Fire & Gold
by FreedomOfThinking
Summary: Deep in the depths of the Black Mountain sleeps an ancient creature... well, not so ancient as you might think. Some stuff with a killing curse, a pinch of black magic, stir with a very fortunate bloodline, a touch of friendly half-giant, some sprinkled blatant Animagus talent, and young Harry Potters life just got more interesting faster than you can say DRAGON!/ PENDING REWRITE
1. Chapter 1

Just introduced myself to the fandom and this is my first fic under Harry Potter. Probably won't go any further than a chapter, but if you all enjoy it, then I can see a future for this story. Probably going to have to write it as I go though. I couldn't really find enough of this style of story which tickled my fancy, so I decided to try my own style. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Professor Minerva McGonagall swatted the letter onto Albus's desk, a proud smile on her face.

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore studied the note, a hogwarts letter, and the address clearly printed on it. An old and wise eyebrow slowly lifted into the air, "is this true?"

"I have double and triple checked the spell work" McGonagall had also gone to her colleague Professor Flitwick to check if their had been any errors with the locational spells, "there are no mistakes Albus"

Dumbledore nodded briefly, his eyebrows knitting together into a look of concentration.

"Albus? Isn't this good news? We now know where the boy is! And that he is alive!"

The normally sparkling blue eyes glanced up at Minerva from behind his desk, before drifting slowly back down to the letter.

Silence dominated the room for a few more brief moments, as arguably the most powerful wizard in england debated something internally.

"Naturally I would agree, but the location of which the boy was found is deeply disturbing"

Minerva paused, finally able to move her mind away from the success and accuracy of the location spell to actually consider the location.

" _Mr Harry Potter,_

 _The Largest Pile_

 _The Black Mountain on the Horizon_

 _Alaska, USA_ "

Dumbledore was studying Minerva, watching her every slight facial expression and twitch of her hands or shoulders. He wouldn't dream of using the mental arts on her, but never the less wished she would be able to reach the same conclusions he had.

"The United States? America?" Minerva paused in thought, "this cannot be his doing"

"Indeed" Albus nodded, "Tom has no part in this misplacement of the child"

"Another cult or group perhaps?" the transfiguration teacher took a grasp at the dark, hoping Albus would help prompt her.

Dumbledore nodded.

"If I recall correctly Minerva, almost 6 years ago the Goblins issued the nationwide debt announcement, freezing almost 100 million galleons in funds, urging families to reduce spending for almost five months"

McGonagall cocked her head sideways in confusion, "and what does this have to do with Harry?"

"Even with my own vast network of sources, the goblins, dwarves and even the werewolves were very hush hush about what actually happened"

Albus had been worried before when none of his contacts in the magical community could tell him what was happening. Most themselves didn't even know what had happened, while others had not even been informed. Werewolves constantly patrolled the goblin external vaults, were offshore financial wealth was stored. They made excellent around the clock cheap labour. Remus had worked for a few weeks as a guard at one such facility in the caribbean, and even he was not told by his superiors as to the sudden gold panic.

The clues I was able to gather gave me three points of information. Firstly, the crash in our economy was due to the goblins not having enough gold to replenish the vaults. Secondly, the dwarves were unable to provide that gold in a quick span of time. Lastly, but not least, it all has to do with The Black Mountain"

Dumbledore locked his fingers together, resting his elbows on the table, eyes twinkling in the firelight. He was deep in thought.

Fawkes cawed quietly at his friend, worried for him.

Always the one to take the initiative, Minerva crossed her arms and stared right down at Albus.

"Then we shall go there and investigate"

Albus sighed, "Minerva, we cannot just go into goblin territory unannounced!"

Now McGonagall raised an imperial eyebrow, "what if the boy is in danger? What if he is in trouble?"

Albus hesitated here.

It was very important to get Harry back and into safety. Albus couldn't care where he stayed, as long as he knew the location and could come to the boy's aid if he needed it. Any amount of rules broken were worth the risk in order to get Harry back. But some careful consideration was needed.

"This could have very serious repercussions... if we're to go ahead with this" Albus warned, hoping Minerva would see some semblance of danger. They could invoke another wizarding war with the goblin nation all over again.

The cat animagus merely scowled at the Headmaster, who in turn glared at her.

"We must do something" she argued.

Dumbledore was silent.

A minute ticked by.

Fawkes ruffled his feathers, ignoring the childish wizards. He already knew what path his friend would choose.

"I'll request an international portkey for tomorrow" Albus huffed, looking away from the now smiling McGonagall.

"Don't be a sore loser Albus, we need to figure out what is going on. The evidence and the letter all point to this Mountain"

Dumbledore nodded.

A thought struck the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

"Perhaps it would be best to bring a small group along?"

If it was even possible, McGonagall's frown deepened.

"And who exactly did you have in mind?"

* * *

"Are we sure the spells worked correctly? Are we certain that Potter is at this, 'Black Mountain'?" Snape drawled impatiently, fidgeting within the Headmasters office.

"For the last time Severus" Flitwick practically growled, startling everyone in the room, "I designed those tracking wards and charms myself. They are practically foolproof"

"Practically?" Remus Lupin questioned towards his old charms professor.

"Unless Mr Potter has been cooked alive in a vat of Basilisk Venom, then his magical core or whatever remnants of it are still anchored to the world, and thus the charm can detect him" Flitwick muttered hotly.

"It's alright Filius" Mad eye Moody mumbled, "he meant nothing by it" he eyed Lupin with his functioning eye, getting the man to mumble an apology towards the charms professor for doubting him.

Snape just snorted.

The door opened and a massive shape stepped through it, dwarfing the other people in the room.

"Sorry I'm late everyone, the Hippogriffs weren't too happy 'bout me leaving and all" Hagrid beamed, his umbrella by his side and a great big smile on his face.

Everyone else in the room smiled back at the friendly giant and turned to behind Hagrid, where Dumbledore finally stepped through.

"Good" Albus nodded at the individuals in the room, "I'm glad we are all here". A grim Alastor Moody, a bored Severus Snape, an anxious Remus Lupin, a beaming Rubeus Hagrid, an annoyed Filius Flitwick, himself and one scowling Minerva McGonagall were assembled in the smallish office.

"We will be portkeyed to a location approximately three hundred meters from the base of the mountain. Our goal is to locate any trace or sign of one Harry James Potter if we fail to locate the boy anyway… a secondary objective is to see what has become of the Black Mountain. Any questions?"

No one said a thing.

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled, "excellent".

The old wizard reached into his pocket, pulling out a miniaturized wheel on a sailing boat which instantly enlarged once it was clear of the wizard's pockets.

"Grab a hold everyone" Albus smiled.

Everyone in the room took a firm grip of the portkey and Albus muttered the word 'Heartstring'.

In under five seconds they were halfway across the world.

* * *

"My word!" Flitwick exclaimed, eyes wide at the destruction around him. They had appeared in a small clearing… more accurately, the remains of a small clearing.

For almost a hundred meters trees lay strewn across the ground, their very roots sticking from the ground. Large trees, with trunks thicker than hagrid's body and twice as dense. The bright sky did nothing to hide the blackened soil and desolated landscape.

"Be careful" Snape murmured, his eyes transfixed on the ground a few meters away from them, his gaze lay upon a space behind a fallen oak tree.

"Why? Whats…" Moody went quiet after he hobbled over to Snape.

Minerva gasped and Albus grimaced.

Bodies lay strewn over the small hill on their right, armored forms flickered dully in the earth. Dumbledore could easily distinguish the red coat of arms of goblin soldiers, the fur matted bodies of werewolves, and the sturdy iron armor of dwarves.

"There is so much death here" Lupin murmured, looking over the tree he was now crouched upon.

"What happened here?" McGonagall whispered, clutching her wand tightly.

"Greed" Flitwick whispered, the look on his face echoing an apparent dislike of the situation, "it would appear they turned on each other"

A snort drew everyone's attention towards Snape.

"No" he murmured, "look at the corpses, and how they are arranged. These were battalions with regiments moving up the mountain. Five goblins to a werewolf, and three werewolves to a dwarf" Snape brought his hand up to his chin, scratching it slightly. Spotted something on the ground he crouched, to inspect it.

"They were fighting in the woods, with…" he reached down to the earth, pulling up a long bow which had been clutched in a goblin's hand, "long range weaponry…" Snape began to move through the bodies inspecting them.

"Anything else Severus?" Albus promoted, his mind working at a mile a minute.

"The wolves had climbing gear. Whatever they were fighting was high up"

"Perhaps a dragon then?"

Snape snorted at Hagrid's suggestion, "you do not need this many soldiers for one dragon"

"What about multiple? Maybe a hundred?" Flitwick exclaimed.

"Still… magic can be used to corral and then kill if that is what you intend… you would only need a few wizards at most"

Snape moved carefully through, "I'd say giants were the cause of this, but because of the trees, I'd think not…"

"Why because of the trees?"

Snape didn't even bother to look at Lupin, his gaze looking further up the mountain. He merely pointed at an upturned tree, "Dark Root. One of the hardest potion materials to extract due to the amount of adhesion the tree's have with the ground"

Snape touched one of the dead tree's, as if trying to sense what had happened.

"It would take a hurricane to remove these tree's"

"They were blown down this way, along with the dead" Moody growled, his 'mad-eye' focused on the mountain, "I can see where they were torn from the dirt"

"A hurricane" Albus murmured, "how strange"

Everyone turned to him, awaiting orders. Snape shared a stare with the Headmaster before nodding slightly.

"We press on" Albus spoke, and the group began to advance up the mountain, evading dead trees, and fallen warriors.

* * *

When the bodies stopped appearing, so did any greenery. About halfway up the mountain, the remainder of the tall imposing natural formation leveled off into rock spires and strewn boulders.

"This doesn't feel good" Lupin was the first to speak upon his fear of the dark magic which saturated the air.

"Something foul came through here… I'd wager it was as recent as that battle." Moody affirmed, wand drawn and eye darting constantly around the space.

"Whatever did that" Snape gestured back down the mountain, "most certainly is what's responsible for the aura of the mountain. I highly doubt that the goblins left it like this, especially since it was partially controlled by the dwarves"

Albus had his brow furrowed the entire time, the Elder wand resting in his tightened grip. After years of combating the unknown, and diving head first into some of the greatest secrets known to magic, Albus Dumbledore was left without a single clue as to what caused this atrocity.

" **You should leave** "

Six wands and a pink umbrella all spun towards the ghostly white figure which had floated out from a nearby boulder in the catacomb like space.

"Speak clearly Ghost" Hagrid rumbled, "we don't have time for vengeful spirits"

The young dwarf ghost grinned, before letting out a bark of a laugh, " **I am no trickster, merely a messenger. I was there when he woke** " a raised hand pointed up the mountain, to a large crack in the side of it, " **I was among the first to die** "

"So you have seen what did this?" Moody stepped towards the ghost, wand not forgotten, but still ready at his side, "what is responsible for such destruction? A wizard?"

Seemingly the ghost ignored him, turning slowly to Dumbledore.

" **Leave now, while you still can. He sleeps… for now. But those that trespass always awaken him. I tried warning the others… I told them we had dug too far, that we had unearthed too much...** " the dwarven ghost seemed forlorn, stuck upon memories which it could barely recall.

"What do we face ahead?" Albus whispered to the ghost like they were sharing a secret, stepping closer to the ethereal face.

The ghost did not even hesitate in answering before it vanished.

" **Death** "

* * *

The rock was melted, seared away by incredibly heat. Magma was Snape's best guest.

But this location was not an active volcanic site.

"For a dormant volcano, it's bloody hot here" Moody growled, using a refreshing charm to clean himself from all the sweat and grime.

"How long do you think this tunnel continues for?" Lupin lead the winding path, a powerful Lumos spell guiding their way.

"It should be breaking out into something soon," Hagrid grumbled, "Or we'll be out the other side of the mountain soon.

Albus and Minerva walked together at the center of the group, Minerva clutching her wand in a clenched fist and Albus staring about the expansive cavern of a space they were moving through.

"This was made by a creature" Albus muttered, looking at the scratched floor and ceiling of the burrowed hole, "a very large creature"

"I'm at a loss as to what could have caused this" McGonagall finally admitted quietly, the unnaturalness of the situation slowly getting to her.

"Every time I think I'm close to figuring out what happened, there is another piece of evidence or a clue that through everything off-"

"Merlin's Beard!" Moody swore, having disappeared around a small bend with Lupin and Hagrid in toe. Their shocked exclamations could be heard shortly afterwards.

Flitwick hurried after Albus, Severus and Minerva, who all bolted forwards to see what the others had.

Their cavern opened up into another larger cavern. An utterly monstrous space.

For as far as the eye could see, a mountainous pile of gold was heaped everywhere. Large black and ornate support pillars approximately 100 meters tall and twenty meters thick acted as supports for the ceiling. Broken walkways and bridges spanned the air above the gold, showing an intricate pattern for what Dumbledore assumed the Dwarves and Goblins had used to avoid the markets below. The ground floor must have been a city before the gold had been deposited on top of it.

"Gringotts lost control of this place" Snape affirmed, "six years ago, when they called for the bailout this is why" he gestured to the massive pile of gold, "this was kept here, and no one could get to it"

"That's all fine and dandy" Moody began to move very slowly onto a walkway which appeared to have been crashed into their opening to the space. It was like something large had burrowed in from the uppermost corner of the huge vault, forcing its way into the gigantic chamber.

When Moody was sure the walkway was safe, he turned around to face the rest of the group.

"If Snape's guess is right, then this is the gold that Gringotts lost for the rest of the world. Well, not lost, but lost ownership of it" Moody took a pause, surveying the enormous amount of gold, "all the dead fellows outside were sent to regain control of this place, recover any gold, or die trying" Moody pointed his wand out and cast off a summoning spell, bringing an object from further down the walkway to him.

The large map impacted with his hand and Moody rolled it open, gazing at the contents.

"And whoever currently controls this place, didn't let a single one of those unfortunate individuals leave with their lives. So there's some big scary warden in here that is watching all the gold, making sure not a single galleon leaves this place"

Moody finally put the map down and his wand whipped up into the air, "so where's this warden then? This big beastie. No wizard is responsible for this. So whatever it is, it's still in _here_. Be ready for a fight everyone"

Dumbledore drew his wand up, his eyes carefully scanning the space and all the walkways.

"I want all of us focused, and awake, move around in pairs. I shall move on alone" Albus calmly commanded, each of the wizards and one witch moving alongside another. McGonagall stood alongside a serious looking Hagrid. Snape had partnered up with Flitwick. Lupin had saddled up next to Moody.

"Trust your senses and you gut, don't let anything escape your notice" Dumbledore apparated in the hot space, moving to another platform tens of meters away, walking off in a different direction.

"Constant Vigilance" Moody muttered, hobbling forward with Lupin behind him.

All of them split up in different directions.

* * *

Dumbledore stepped into a small antechamber which had adorned one of the walls. This seemed to be some kind of home for a wealthy dwarf. Perhaps one of the managers at the bank?

Whoever had lived here had perished in a very flash fire, which had engulfed the entire room.

"Where are you Harry?" Dumbledore muttered, stepping out from the charred room.

The wand in Dumbledore's palm did not stop moving. He had used the 'Point Me' spell for Harry, but the wand kept spinning in his hand. It couldn't seem to direct Dumbledore towards the young boy.

Albus was beginning to feel the flickers of annoyance. He had been pondering what creature had caused such death and destruction since he had begun the trip up the mountain.

All logical clues and evidence pointed towards a dragon or dragons being responsible for this. But as Snape said, Goblins are incredibly efficient at dealing with dragons. They are prepared for what they refer to as, "gold hoarding parasites". Like the great detective Sherlock Holmes, a fantastic piece of muggle literature, Albus had been piecing together potential perpetrators of this crime.

...And everything he thought of lead back to dragons. But Albus had gazed across the gold many times. There were no beats here resting atop the gold peacefully, or reclining on the comfortable material. There was nothing here except gold and bodies.

Small moving dots in the distance told Albus that the others were still searching.

Turning his head slightly, Albus came face to face with the very top of the gold mountain. The cumulative wealth having formed a series of large hills. But this one, by any doubt had to be… the largest pile.

"

Mr Harry Potter,

The Largest Pile

The Black Mountain on the Horizon

Alaska, USA "

"Oh good lord" Dumbledore finally realised that Harry was buried within the gold. Dumbledore turned away from the pile, facing the director of which the others were searching, and cast a quick patronus in their direction, to tell them of his discovery.

However, he did not notice the pile shift ever so slightly in response to the patronus.

* * *

"I've found him, come to me as soon as possible!" Dumbledore's patronus flew away from Snape, the silvery construct making its way towards Hagrid and McGonagall.

"How fortunate" Flitwick mumbled, "and no sign of the beast what so ever!"

Snape turned towards the Headmaster's direction, a scowl already on his face as he was about to start walking, but froze as he carefully eyed the pile behind the support Albus was standing alongside.

Snape could have sworn that it had… no… there again!

The pile had moved.

"Filius" Snape calmly spoke, "I want you to be ready to cast any shielding or protection charms… your most powerful if possible"

The smaller man cocked an eyebrow at Severus, turning to look at where Snape was looking.

A sharp inhalation of breath informed the potions master the the charms professor had seen the pile move.

"...oh my…" Flitwick mumbled, slowly drawing his wand.

"You spoke too soon about the beast" Snape muttered, "it's been in front of us the entire time"

A large movement from under the pile caused a cascade of golden galleons, trinkets, necklaces, earrings, crowns, statues and gems to start rolling down the hill.

From under the gold, scaled skin was revealed around a very large and very closed eye.

* * *

Everyone in the deathly quiet chamber looked towards the sound of the sudden moving of gold, and what it had revealed.

"Blimey" Hagrid whispered, eyes wide, "that looks like dragonhide!"

"Sweet Merlin" Lupin swore when he saw the massive eye, "it's beneath the gold" he hissed quietly.

Albus, having been closer to the large disruption of gold slowly moved forward and around from the pillar that blocked the sight of what had happened.

As soon as the Headmaster was around the corner, did he understand that he was merely a few meters from an eye the size of his body.

In another tumble of gold coins and splendor, the head of the beast cut a swath through the gold mountain, one of its nostrils now visible as well. The air hole flared, as if picking up a sent.

Albus stood perfectly still, a calm feeling being exuded over his body.

Then the eye cracked open.

A venomous green iris drifted towards Albus and rested on him.

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was absolutely and positively astounded. He had no clue as to why such a creature had gone unnoticed for centuries.

Just by the head and eye alone, Dumbledore could assume that the creature was gigantic.

It was definitely draconic in origin.

" _ **Who are you?**_ "

The dragon's mouth had emerged from the gold, and sharp teeth became visible for every word it spoke.

Once again, the creature caught the Hogwarts Headmaster by surprise.

It could talk?

"My name is Albus Dumbledore" the wizard paused, and seeing the dragon narrow its eyes, continued, "I am the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, a school for the magical."

The head shifted towards him, facing him straight down through the gold.

" _ **A teacher? They send a teacher for me?!**_ " With a massive shrug, the mighty black dragon emerged from the gold.

Firstly the wings appeared, breaking through the gold mountain with the force of a hurricane, causing Albus to quickly cast a shield as a buffer.

The others in the chamber were forced to do the same.

Secondly, powerful shoulders wrestled free from the grasp of gold, sending the precious substance through the air in a glittering shower. Gargantuan forearms with fearsome talons clawed then wrapped around two pillars, helping pull itself from its slumber. A massive and lengthy torso was forced through the slowly diminishing mountain by powerful hind legs. It fell forward onto all fours, like a titanic lion.

The full body of the dragon was utterly gigantic.

...and it was glaring at Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

"You said it couldn't have been a dragon!" Flitwick argued to Snape, having moved across the stone pathway so one of the huge support pillars could block the dragon from seeing them.

"That is no dragon I have ever heard of!" Snape peaked around the side of the pillar, looking at the dragon which had fully emerged now.

"That is a monstrosity" Severus hissed.

* * *

"Would ya look at that" Hagrid gasped, "a first age Dragon!"

Minerva almost stumbled, "you know what that is?"

Hagrid didn't seem to notice her lack of faith in his intelligence or he decided to ignore it, "Sure!"

Despite the situation, Hagrid had a jovial smile upon his face.

"My mother, bless her soul, comes from a very old family. One of the things she left my father was a very old book" Hagrid smiled fondly at the memory, "when I was younger I thought it was a story book! Actually, it was a retelling of my family's history! The book tells that, ages ago, the world was a very different place. We giant's described it as the 'first age' of wizards. However-"

"Hagrid!" Minerva hissed, "I'll take the full lesson later, right now you need to tell me anything that could help our current situation"

Hagrid opened his mouth to say something, then paused. Before closing his mouth and eyes in thought.

A few seconds passed.

Another bright smile broke across the friendly giant's face.

"I've got just the idea!"

And he turned around to walk in the direction of the irate monster.

* * *

Dumbledore could clearly see the dragon's building breath, due to the red glow blooming from its stomach.

The Elder wand thrust into the air, a powerful cooling spell on the tip of Albus's tongue, when a bright and charming voice boomed across the space.

"We come in peace! Great master of the mountain! We come in peace!"

Both Headmaster and dragon whipped their heads towards the voice, the dragon causing a large whip like crack in the air.

"Great master of the mountain!" Hagrid practically roared, "you need not fear a visit from us!"

"Rubeus!" Dumbledore hissed to himself, hoping Hagrid would somehow hear his voice "you'll get yourself killed!" there was no way he could communicate to Hagrid to retreat or hide now, and shouting would draw the attention of the dragon back to him.

" _ **And why is that, giant?**_ "

The Headmaster's head was practically on a swivel, because it instantly spun back to the dragon, looking down his half moon spectacles in shock.

Hagrid was still slowly approaching the dragon, who still had its eyes narrowed on the groundskeeper, but the glow of fire had disappeared.

"Only half! On me mother's side!" Hagrid boomed back happily, his face and walk the epitome of calm, "But to answer your question, great master! We're looking for something far more precious to us than gold!"

The dragon snorted, striding across the gold on all fours towards Hagrid. It stopped just before him to inspect him with its head still held in the air imperiously.

" _ **More precious than gold… I do not believe in such a thing**_ " it said in contempt, but with a lack of venom.

"Aye, to you great master, it should have little value" Hagrid bowed, "but to myself and my companions, it means a great deal"

The snout of the dragon moved right in front of Hagrid, who was standing off to one side of the path, suspended a good 50 meters into the air above a sea of gold.

It was face to face with the creature that Hagrid could see the only wound on the immaculate dragonhide. To the giant, if a creature like this had survived the full wrath of Gringotts magic and support, than there was little out in the known world that could cause such a large scar on its head.

" _ **Tell me of this treasure half giant, and if it means as little to me as you say, keep it**_!"

Hagrid did not skip a beat before his humble request.

"We're looking for a child. A boy of dear friends. Our magic and spells led us to this location"

Only the sound of the dragons breath permeated the chamber.

It cocked its head sideways, eye's slowly moving out of the scowl.

" _ **You**_ " a claw rose up slowly to gesture at Hagrid, then Dumbledore, " _ **and them**_ " the claw swept across the chamber to where the others were, " _ **are here for the boy**_?"

It was at this point that Dumbledore's brain became very clear.

The facts as it were:

Harry is in the mountain.

Harry is in the largest pile.

Harry is still alive.

The Dragon knows about Harry.

The Dragon has been here a very long time.

The Dragon does not take kindly to wizards.

The Dragon is very powerful.

And of course the two facts which sealed the deal.

"Green eyes and a lightning bolt scar" Dumbledore gasped at the implications, he quickly strode to Hagrid, who was still conversing with the fantastic beast.

"So you 'ave heard of him? He's a short boy, black hair, and a great big ruddy scar on his-"

"Head" Albus finished, apparating next to Hagrid.

The dragon didn't even seem to react to Dumbledore, aside from its gaze shifting slightly to him then back to Hagrid.

" _ **And why do you want the boy, half giant?**_ "

"Well uh, I think it best for professor Dumbledore to explain" Hagrid stepped aside, to forcibly move the proverbial spotlight to Albus.

"The young boy, Harry Potter" Albus stressed the name, and enjoyed how the green eyes of the dragon twitched, "has recently been deemed of age, to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We would appreciate it, if dear Harry would attend the very same school that his parents went to. He belongs back in the community with his own people"

The silver grey highlights under the dragon's' eyes crinkled in a frustrated twitch.

" _ **You must think you're so smart**_ " the dragon bit back rather rudely, and seemingly… childish. Dumbledore gave the great beast a slight smile, his eyes twinkling like mad.

"Turn back to normal, and then could we please talk"

Everyone in the space blinked aside from Albus and the dragon.

" _ **Fine**_ "

And the body began to shrink.

With a small leap, the now smaller figure landed on the stone walkway, crooked glasses forming out of its white indications under its eyes. Long matted black hair dominated its head, but the ever famous lightning bolt scar was still visible on the boy's forehead.

Harry Potter had his arms crossed with a scowl across his eleven year old face.

"What do you want to talk about?" the boy almost snarled, his lip curling as he spoke.

"Many, many things" Dumbledore smiled.

Somewhere a few hundred meters away, McGonagall fainted.

* * *

To those that follow me:

So yeah, this is my first update in awhile. I know I've probably pissed off more than a few of you. However with this post comes the promise of more free time. I've finally graduated, got my grades, have my gap year planned, and I'm looking towards a very positive holiday! So expect to see updates to my main three stories on this account, Strength, Seal Master and probably Apex.

This is Freedom, all grown up and having a swell 4am. Peace out :D


	2. Chapter 2

Jeez.

I didn't think that this story would be so popular. This is my first attempt on the Harry Potter scene after all. Yes I admit that the dragon part was based on Smaug, but not because I think Smaug or Lord of the Rings is awesome, but because its a game changer. Something that can crucially effect all of the story. Since this is fanfiction, and fiction is considered a very large topic, I've decided to explore this as a plot point.

Secondly, and most importantly, would you like longer chapters with longer post times? Or shorter chapters, with faster post times? I'm trying to work at a 5k-6k word average for my chapters, but if you need content faster, I can do a chapter of 1-2k and get it done in half the time.

Thanks to all who have reviewed and told me to keep this story going.

It was honestly meant to end with McGonagall fainting, but you all wanted more, so here is more!

-Freedom

* * *

This was the son of James and Lily.

His black hair was as dark as the scales of the beast he could become. It flowed down his back, having been uncut and untrimmed for a very long time. He was covered in strange grey furs, with the occasional piece of armor that must have been scavenged from the Goblin forces. A shoulder piece for only the right side, a gauntlet for his left hand, a silver belt slung awkwardly around his waist in order to keep up the matted grey fur. His feet had a pair of mismatched boots with the right one being larger than the left.

Hagrid was expecting a scared and small boy, not some kind of behemoth from a time long forgotten.

Harry Potter looked positively feral.

While also being a stunning image of his father, he held a uniqueness to him. He was also big. Much bigger than any other child his age would be. Aspects of his dragon form were reflected in the boy. His piercing green eyes were slitted just like his gigantic form. He was lithe still, a skinny, but everything about him just bled the sense of a predator.

"What was this about a first age dragon?" McGonagall stepped up alongside Hagrid and the others, being a good 20 feet away from where Dumbledore and the boy were talking.

"So ya want the lesson now Professor?" Hagrid smiled at her, also noting that the others were paying attention, especially Snape.

"My ancestors, the giants, the ones who had a brain in their heads at least, used to do battle with these great beasts. Dragon's of the first age are exactly what we have just seen. Great beast's with an unquenchable thirst for gold. Monsters from an era long passed. The tales and stories said that most Wizards lived in fear of these great beasts, and only until the second era did any Wizard or Witch actually find a way to combat them."

"Yes, but what are they?" Snape asked loudly, "what is the relation to modern day dragons, and how come we've never heard of them?"

Hagrid brought a hand to his face and wiped away some sweat. The air was boiling after all.

"They are...well, a true dragon so to speak; what every dragon species should really be like. During the second age, dragons of the first age were hunted down to almost extinction. Wizards had become more powerful, and dragonhide was very useful. Not even a killing curse can affect ancient hide. A dragon youngling of the first age took too long to mature, and therefore the species had to adapt or die out. The dragons which we see nowadays are the survivors, the species that were not deemed as valuable for wizards to hunt down. The magic involved with killing a first age dragon is no small task. I would assume even professor Dumbledore would have difficulty using such magic. Eventually the old ways and methods died out, as no one needed them. The great flying beasts which could take a hundred wizards to slay no longer roamed the skies and were forgotten" Hagrid was rattling off all this information so quickly, that no one really knew what to say.

"How do you know all this?" Moody was still frowning.

"I like to read up on creatures. There was a great book on the first age of dragons, and it's still within the hogwarts library"

"Hmm" Snape hummed in thought, focusing back on the headmaster and the 'boy'.

Snape had felt that pang of hatred for James Potter. For everything that the self righteous git had done. But the green eyes…

He could see her. The slice of Lily that was still present in the living realm.

Even as he face morphed into a frown, Severus Snape could not lie to himself that after all these years he was glad that the boy was alive.

He had already failed Lily once. He would not do so again.

Severus would take care of the boy.

...Even if her son was also a monstrous 70 meter tall Ancient Dragon from a time before wizard kind was even in its infancy.

Indeed. A vulnerable child.

Snape coughed absently, covering the smirk on his face with a hand.

* * *

Albus was astounded by the conversation with the boy.

"So your ability is instinctual, and not trained?"

Harry nodded.

"Fascinating"

So according to the child, he rarely turned back to his human form, as he deemed it weaker than just being 'himself'. Furthermore, he was under the impression that he had always been a dragon, and that his human form was the spectacular ability he could utilise.

Albus had chuckled when the boy had told him, "to become something so small was… interesting"

Size proportions were off for him.

"How are you able to understand the english language?"

The boy tilted his head thoughtfully, eyes misting over in thought. Dumbledore took this as a bad sign. Harry had been able to answer every question simply so far, but at the topic of his education, and more importantly who taught him, the boy freezes up? No, something was not right.

"Well Harry?"

A pause.

"Can I answer?" the boy looked down timidly, not focusing on Dumbledore anymore.

"Of course-"

" _ **He wasn't talking to you**_ " Harry's eyes snapped back up to gaze into Dumbledore's, the iris's practically glowing a venomous green. His voice had dropped, and the inhuman tone to it startled Albus.

Instinctively, Dumbledore had his wand in hand, ready to cast.

"Who are you?"

" _ **No one. My name has been lost to time"**_

"What are you doing with Harry?"

" _ **Do not be mistaken Headmaster, we are one in the same. We are what happens when death, blood and a long forgotten history all collide on one unfortunate night. I felt my possession carry from generation to generation. Lord Voldemort freed me into the boy when he attempted to murder us. Now, we are one**_ "

Dumbledore processed the information slowly, keeping his attention on the boy.

Finally feeling that he could do nothing about this possession at the current time, Dumbledore accepted it as fact, returning to his line of questioning immediately.

"Is there any distinction between you two?"

" _ **Not anymore. As the years pass, we grow closer. I can still feel the shade of my past life, but we find it harder to remember every day. It is even difficult for us to speak with you now witho**_ ut disappearing" Harry whispered at the end. He had returned to normal.

"What was that Harry?" Dumbledore watched the child carefully.

"The dragon" Harry replied softly.

"An alter ego?" Dumbledore probed, hoping the boy would know.

Harry just shook his head in a resigned sweep of black hair.

"We taut ourselves everything from the ground up. From our memories of the time before, and of the world experienced through the eyes of others. I have many memories which I know don't belong to us"

"Is this some kind of malicious spirit possessing you?" Dumbledore was more than ready to perform a hasty exorcism.

Yet once again, Harry shook his head in the negative.

"No. It's me. We've always been like this, but now we don't share a space anymore. Soon it's just going to be me"

"This seems to be a form of magic I have never encountered before. Not even old blood magic is as powerful as a full astral possession" Dumbledore had leaned forward slightly, examining Harry over his half moon spectacles, "while not unheard of, under these circumstances it is a unique case"

"The circumstances being?" Harry bit back, wondering how much the older wizard knew or could guess at.

"You have not been subjected to an ancient artifact that carries any curses, which over time would have developed a sort of sentience from the magic of the creator" Flitwick said, having stepped up to the boy, "in the rune classes this would be referred to as, personification, where the curse takes physical if not mental aspects of the creator, and begins influencing the one which it is in contact with"

"I don't think I've ever been in contact with something like that, Mr…" Harry grasped for a name at the smaller man. He seemed to be part Goblin, something that made his blood boil unintentionally.

"Filius Flitwick, Hogwarts Charms Professor, and the proud teacher of your mother Mr. Potter" Flitwick smiled and bowed slightly, easing up on the amount of tension Harry was feeling.

Harry smiled at the smaller man, "there is the odd relic and ancient charm floating around in my mountain Professor Flitwick, but nothing that could cause any harm to myself"

"How long has it been since you took up, 'residence', here in the mountain?" Snape interjected himself with an acidic tone, his eyes fixed firmly on Potter. He had moved up to Dumbledore's left in order to examine the boy.

"Harry told me he has been down here for as long as he could remember" Dumbledore told Severus, and the potions master nodded.

"Gold is a very…. Calming thing" Harry muttered, his eyes glossing over at the very word.

"This fortune is as much as fault as I am. I've never been able to resist its call"

"It's call?" Dumbledore's question was to allow for Harry to elaborate further, and that is what the Potter heir did.

"There's something about gold; its presence. On it's own I can resist the temptation, but something in my mind stings when a fortune such as this" Harry gestured to the millions, if not billions of gold items in the room as all the others slowly moved into a semi-circle around the boy, "is left under attention other than mine"

"This might prove to be a problem for the future Mr. Potter" Minerva McGonagall.

"And why ex _ **actly is that, Miss...?**_ " the change in voice unnerved everyone in the room. The dragon boy felt his gold was being threatened, so he had gotten defensive… but that doesn't mean it was scary as hell to see his eyes begin to glow, and his teeth sharpen.

McGonagall however just snorted, much to the wide eyed surprise of everyone else.

"Don't try and tones with me young boy. You can't be expected to attend school if you have a great big mountain of treasure to look after" McGonagall had been teaching children for much longer than most of the other professors. She knew how to deal with a hissy teenager. Once you got over the whole gigantic beast part.

"Either move the treasure or you have to leave it behind"

Since Harry had already expressed his interest and his want to join the magical community, as well as attend the same school as his parents, a fact which all the professors had listened in on, the frown of annoyance that crossed his face was understandable.

"I've got no where to move it to..." Harry muttered, staring at his collection.

Moments of silence continued to pass.

"Ahem"

Everyone turned to look at Hagrid, who had quite loudly cleared his throat.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir"

"Yes Hagrid?"

"Well sir, what if we did what you suggested to me last year? When you were looking at the book on geological magic, and wondered about adding more habitats to not only the Forbidden Forest, but for the rest of the Hogwarts territory sir"

Now everyone was looking at Dumbledore, a sheepish smile on the man's face, "I'm afraid to say this Rubeus, but I cannot recall the book. But what exactly would your idea entail?"

"Well sir" Hagrid fidgeted on the spot, "I always considered adding dragons to the Hogwarts grounds, and most species like to nest in high up locations, so perhaps the addition of a mountain wouldn't be such a bad idea?"

"I suppose that wouldn't be such a bad idea" Dumbledore hummed.

"Would provide a refreshing change of view from some classrooms and towers!" Flitwick hummed.

"The magic takes a few weeks for most, but I think out of all of you, Dumbledore could do it in a few days. Tops" Moody mumbled.

"Sounds like an interesting idea. Maybe add some more habitats as well while you're at it!" Remus smiled.

"I have no problem with this" Minerva muttered.

Snape just grunted.

"When can we go?" Harry asked, the smile across his face showing off his shark like grin.

* * *

It turned out that it would be awhile before Harry could go to his new mountain. Firstly, Dumbledore had vanished all the gold using some very powerful magical artefacts. He still had to do multiple trips.

Harry had heavily insisted that not a single gold coin go missing.

He had said he would know if a single one was gone.

As the countryside whipped by onboard the Hogwarts Express, Harry thought about the few outstanding moments of not just his trip to Diagon Alley, but his interactions with the teachers that would be attempting to govern his life.

To be honest, Potter liked Snape. The man had a backbone made of thicker stuff then the others around him. The only other person who held a candle to him would be Alastor Moody, the crazy wizard cop.

Severus Snape had been very blunt on Harry's activities which involved claiming and protecting his treasure.

"The boy has killed! Are we not going to discuss this?!"

Harry smiled at the memory of Dumbledore telling Snape that they would indeed speak about it, but outside Ollivanders was not the place.

That topic of conversation had persisted until even after Madam Malkin's store.

Snape was vehement on getting an answer.

Dumbledore said would speak with him later at the school, and if not, Harry planned to have a word with him.

Tearing his eyes from the scenery, Harry looked down to his new wand, thinking of just what exactly had occurred at Ollivanders and the choosing of the wand.

The pitch black wood had a glowing red and white streak seemingly coiled around it.

Ollivander had reacted calmly to this, even as the once holly wood had charred itself black.

It was a wand of Ash.

Ollivander had said this was a sign of death. Harry had felt when the Phoenix core had been usurped by his own magic, the core being corrupted into something else.

At that point the elder man had begun to ask questions, a anger in his tone as well as confusion across his features.

"What are you?" he had said.

Harry had just smiled before leaving with Dumbledore and Snape, the two who had accompanied him to Diagon Alley.

Albus had promised Ollivander that he would speak with him later.

Harry could feel the wand. No matter where it was, he could feel it on his person, or if it was a hundred feet away. There was a bond between the wand and himself. When Harry had tested this feeling by throwing his wand directly up into the air, and a stinging pain began to seep into his skin, he had frowned before catching the wand quickly.

This could be dangerous.

He had tested this without Dumbledore seeing, but he knew Snape had noticed based off the curiously raised eyebrow.

Harry had just shrugged at the potions master.

This news could be potentially dangerous, and he didn't want to share it with the two at first. Perhaps later he would bring it up.

* * *

Gringotts had been interesting. The first few steps up to the bank doors were chaotic.

The goblins had all freaked out. Guards had stood alert, while even a few bank tellers had approached the group of three.

More guards were appearing by the doors in groups of three.

Somehow they knew.

They knew that something very deadly had walked up the steps to the bank and was just outside its door.

None of them knew of course that it was Harry Potter, but the group of three had apparently triggered some kind of ward which was meant to be an early warning defense mechanism.

After almost an hour of bickering and explaining, the goblins had finally let the three into the bank, and the ward maker had received a demotion for a faulty creation.

Albus had lied through his teeth to the goblins, and Harry could barely hear the hushed conversation between the Headmaster and the head of the armed guard.

The words, "Potter… safe… old magic… killing curse… and you know who" were used, but Harry couldn't catch anything else.

Once inside, a grumpy old goblin called Hookfang took them to the Potter vault.

* * *

Harry twitched slightly as he looked upon the huge pile of gold. Compared to his mountain, it was nothing, but nonetheless the familiar itch began to crawl all over his body.

A firm hand rested on his shoulder, and Harry turned to look at Albus Dumbledore. The twinkle in his eyes as well as the calming smile let him know that he should not act out down here.

The goblins would suspect something if the Potter boy began to rub his body on the gold within the vault.

Forcing the feeling down, Harry flashed a toothy grin at Snape before turning to look at the goblin which had accompanied them.

"This is all?"

"Yes" the goblin sniffed, as if Harry had just suggested something foul.

"Hm" Harry just hummed, setting the goblin on edge as he bared his teeth briefly, before stepping away with Dumbledore. He had a train to catch after all.

* * *

And so Harry pondered the future. All he had ever known was the cave and the mountain. To be resting under all that beautiful gold, with the annual raid from the goblins to stir him from slumber.

Glancing down at his clawless hands, Harry wondered how different life was, as an 'insect'.

The world already seemed much more rich and entertaining as one of the smaller folk. Life as a human didn't seem to be much of a problem for him.

It was indeed very strange being so small… but he would work with it. For the sake of his parents. Dumbledore was also looking into his condition, and how it had affected him.

Having spent a majority of his younger life as a dragon, Harry wasn't exactly sure how to be human.

Some corner of the black haired boy's brain told him that life as a human would never supersede that of a dragon.

...yet Harry did not want to be alone.

There were no others like him, and what point would life and the gold be if he had no others to share it with.

Harry craved a connection, something that bound him with another.

Hogwarts could potentially solve this feeling.

"Oh, I'm sorry" a polite voice said, as Harry's green eyes snapped to the door, "I didn't know this compartment was occupied"

Turning to face the blonde girl, Harry took a few seconds to come to a conclusion.

Partially on the tall side- for a human.

Sky blue eyes, and a charming frown.

Harry made up his mind.

"There's plenty of space for two" he didn't smile or grin. He didn't want to set her off with his sharper than normal teeth.

She seemed to hesitate for a second.

Harry smiled internally, as he realised she was judging him and his looks.

"Are you a first year?"

Harry nodded.

"Oh" she mumbled, looking him over again as she stepped into the compartment with her trunk.

"What?" Harry allowed an eyebrow to spike in question.

"You don't…" she coughed slightly, "you look older than your age"

Harry smiled now, but kept his teeth hidden, "I'm aware of that"

Silence melted between them.

She broke it.

"I'm Daphne. Daphne Greengrass"

Harry nodded at her politely, "pleasure to meet you"

Snape and his crash course on human manners was a god send.

"It's a little rude not to tell me your name"

Harry became stiff as a board. This was when people got weird. Really weird. The topic of his name was always a double edged sword.

"Henry" he tested out somewhat quietly. He scrambled briefly for a last name and felt the familiar pulse of his wand.

"Henry Ashwood"

"It's nice to meet you as well"

Her smile was beautiful.

Harry turned away to watch the land drift by.

* * *

"First years! First years over here!" Hagrid boomed out to everyone standing around the train.

Harry walked forward to the small dock which they were directed to.

What an interesting way to enter a school for the first time.

Stepping onto one of the small boats, Harry smiled at Daphne as she got into the same boat as him.

Another blonde, this one a boy, also stepped into the boat as well. He was accompanied by another girl who seemed to by vying for his attention.

He had eyes for Daphne only though. She in turn was staring at Harry, who had looked out onto the water, eyeing the castle in the distance.

"It's gorgeous" Harry said to no one in particular, swiping his hair back so it fell down the back of his head.

He felt that the comment needed to be said, just for the sake of the towering turrets, stone walls, glowing glass windows, and ancient magical feel.

The old magic which comprised most of the structure could be felt from this far away, even by Harry.

"Indeed" the blonde boy said, but what Harry didn't note was that his gaze was focused on Daphne still, who looked back at the other boy, giving him an unreadable expression.

The other girl snorted, before she shuffled closer to the blonde.

"Henry?"

"Hmm?" Harry hummed, turning to look at the blonde who had shared the compartment on the Hogwarts express with him.

"What house do you think you'll be in?"

Harry pondered for a second, thinking about what Snape had told him. His choices were the snobs in Slytherin, the gits in Gryffindor, the peculiar Puff's, or the studious Ravenclaw.

"Not a clue" Harry smiled.

A snort drew his attention to the other boy in the boat.

"The only house worthwhile is Slytherin. Only the greatest go there" he sounded so sure of himself. The blonde boy was practically oozing confidence.

"Really? Well Let's see if I'm lucky enough to be sorted there?"

The docks finally appeared, and the children were finally ready for their first year at Hogwarts.

Harry felt bored.

* * *

The Hogwarts rumour mill was one of the fastest working flows of information known to wizardkind. Who's dating who and what happened where, was the game, and everyone seemed to play it. Things like Snape exploding on a particular student could fully circulate the school from morning, and everyone would know about it by lunch.

So naturally, two weeks after the sorting when Dumbledore begins to make a series of visits into the Forbidden Forest with the friendly groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid… AND THEN a great big mountain appears on the Horizon of the forbidden forest, people start talking. They start talking very fast, and the story goes everywhere.

Snape of course, is noted to be more acidic than usual, and with any talk about the mountain earning anyone within his earshot a detention, this would only fuel the rumour mill.

After a week of the mountain appearing the Weasley twins, Fred and George, take notice that a very red glow can be seen from the peak of the mountain at night.

The school comes to the conclusion of dragons, regardless of the protests from Ron Weasley, whose brother Charlie being a dragon expert had imparted onto him some minor knowledge.

Said knowledge simply stated that no dragon could produce enough fire to light up a mountain at night.

* * *

As Harry sat around in the common room, his mind kept drifting to the mountain now outside of the school.

Dumbledore had come through with his promise, and soon he would be able to give his wings a stretch. His gold would be deposited to the site soon, and then he'd finally be able to get rid of the itching feeling.

The sound of footsteps caused Harry's head to turn.

"Why're you awake now?"

Harry smiled.

"I've always been an early riser"

The person just frowned and Harry only gave them a shrug in response.

Hogwarts was going to be great.

Especially so if the sorting was any indication to how the school functioned.

* * *

AN: So I've left the sorting part till next chapter, simply because I would like all of your takes upon which house Harry should be in. For me, it isn't really crucial to the plot, or how things plan out for now, so I wanted to know what you guys wanted. As always, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Do review, tell me what you like and what you don't. I'll be sure to include it.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long wait! Had some things to do while working on this chapter. Really wasn't sure if you all wanted more of this story, but I see that was wrong when all those reviews came in. Thanks for all the idea's you put in. Sorry to say, but I had to go with my own way for this story. Anywho, latest chapter, whoop de doo, I hope you all enjoy it. I'm still essentially just setting the framework for the story, so everything is still malleable and changeable. Any suggestions would be a good send. Also, not looking for overpowered, super or god like Harry in this story. Also, not looking for everything to be all right in the end. I love twists and turns, downfalls and faults, so I'm going to include as much as possible in this story.

Have a good day everyone!

-Freedom.

* * *

The sorting process was dull.

Names were called out one by one, and students were then required to step forward, place a magical hat on their head which supposedly 'read your mind', then it would sort them into one of the four tables.

Harry rolled his eyes. The hat couldn't be that powerful.

His mental shields were somewhat formidable for someone his age.

An evil thought crossed his mind as a 'Ron Weasley' was sorted into Gryffindor.

'Maybe I can overpower the hat and get it to start swearing'

Immature thoughts were unbecoming of a young dragon, but as long as you didn't leave any proof, who could blame you?

What our young dragon did not account for, was the hat being centuries older than even he could comprehend, charmed by the four combined powers of the founders of Hogwarts, means it would have a fairly powerful defense mechanism.

"Harry Potter!", professor McGonagall called from her place behind the list of first year students.

A hush blanketed the room as Harry began to move.

He ignored all the whispers and comments as he grew closer to the hat, and a devious smile would have stretched across his face if he hadn't been in Dumbledore's line of sight.

As he turned to sit upon the stool, Harry finally noticed that everyone's eyes were on him.

According to most, he was apparently some kind of celebrity. Professor Snape had told him so, and Harry had merely snorted.

But now, it seemed as if those words carried merritt.

Strange.

The hat sunk onto his head.

" **Don't** you _dare_ boy!" the hat hissed into his head.

Harry could feel his mental defenses crumble into dust.

"My word… you're quick on the draw" the hat was speaking only to him, but the words it projected to the hall were, "hmmm, where to place you?"

Harry felt stunned. He had expected to be able to resist, if not overpower the hat, but it seemed as though he didn't have anything protecting his mind in the first place. It was like he was a fresh hatchling, with a weak mind to boot.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you were you. Arrogance is disgusting for one of your race. Godric always spoke of your kind as powerful yet _humble_ beings. You're the second one I've had the pleasure of speaking to, and you seem just as conceited as the first"

Harry mentally stumbled.

"There's another?"

He did not ask aloud, and the hat kept spitting out fake dialogue to keep everyone else distracted.

"Oh dear boy, there is. I can predict a great number of issues in the future between the two of you. He descends from the line of Valmor"

Harry had to bite his tongue before he let the hiss escape his mouth.

'BLOOD SUCKING LEECH!'

Potter blinked.

That wasn't him.

"Oh?" the hat seemed surprised as it shifted through his thoughts, "so you haven't fully bonded with your ancestry yet… strange. The other already was. Well take comfort in the fact that he's not even half your size"

Harry felt a wave of buzzing emotions.

Eventually instinct took over as he simmered on the existence of a beast from the Valmor line.

"Enough of this tripe. Sort me already" Harry snarled mentally, and his face twitched in real life, causing Minerva to raise an eyebrow.

The sorting was taking longer than normal.

"Calm, calm, young dragon, allow an old hat his fun. But you do make an excellent point, we've been yapping for too long. Let's see…. My, my, your love for gold supersedes most things… except for your goal in obtaining companionship, and friends. A dragon to be among Hufflepuff… tempting. Very tempting" the hat hummed aloud, only voicing the "to be among Hufflepuff", to the crowd.

Said house table seemed to move as a whole, sitting up with stars in their eyes.

"Ravenclaw would definitely see some use in you" now the Raven's were on the tips of their seats.

"Headfirst into a fight as well, Godric would be proud to have you in his house!" the hat beamed, and the lions practically roared in approval.

"Make your damn choice!" Harry hissed to the hat.

"But you belong with your own kind" the hat seemed smug.

And at last, it decided to bellow:

"SLYTHERIN!"

The snakes burst into applause. The coveted boy who lived! Who would have thought?

Harry couldn't care any less as he approached the table which belonged to Salazar's house.

So invested with sitting down and thinking upon the spawn of annoyance, a survivor from the line of Valmor, that Harry let the the entire sorting ceremony continue past him.

The sorting hat had at least been kind enough to let him know where the disgusting worm with wings was. In the very same house he had been sorted into.

This was both a blessing and a curse. He would have to share the same space and lessons with the very beast who he despised, but also would mean he would be a few steps closer to finding out who it was.

What he would do to the survivor of the ancient times came down to chance and consideration.

Who knows how terrible the beast would grow during Harry's time here.

If it really was a putrid and accurate example of the line it came from, Harry would gut the survivor like a fish. To hell with the professors. The scum would not be allowed to live.

A hand jabbed Harry's side, startling him.

Blue eyes were glaring at him from his left.

"So, _Henry_ , what'd you think of the sorting?" his name came out with an extra dose of venom from Daphne's lips.

"Oh" Harry mumbled, understanding that he had lied to the girl, "nothing really" he went quiet and turned back to the food.

Another jab made him turn to the now further frustrated girl.

"Why did you lie to me?" she hissed at him.

Harry blinked dumbly.

"People always go weird when I tell them. I didn't want you to" he said simply, turning back to the food.

When no poke came, he began to hoover down food.

Mid bite, Daphne tapped him lightly on the shoulder, her expression more calm then annoyed now, "what do you mean?"

Harry could clearly see the confusion in her eyes.

"I didn't want you to go all strange, like everyone else does when they know my name. I just wanted to talk to someone normally" he was the confused one now. Was that too much to ask for?

"Oh" she said simply, turning back to her own meal.

No other words were said, and the two ate side by side in silence, under the watchful gaze of one Draco Malfoy.

* * *

Back in the common room, Harry stood from his seat around the fire, smiling to himself as he walked out the common room door to the breakfast table. The sixth and seventh years had become very acquainted with him. His larger stature and more developed body, combined with his quietness, made him more amenable to sit with then most Slytherins.

Every now and then Harry would catch a glare or frown from someone in his house, or even from other houses, but he ignored them, instead focusing on the fact that he had made his first proper friend.

Daphne sat next to him, with a friend of her's, Tracy Davis, sitting next to her.

Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle sat directly across from them. The boys spoke with the girls, and the girls spoke to the boys, while Harry sat their with a smile across his face as he ate breakfast.

Every now and then Daphne would drag him into the conversation, which would earn her a glare from Draco, and an eye roll from Tracy. Harry still couldn't tell why.

The Seventh years would just laugh at this, causing Daphne to glare at them.

Snape was the one who broke this cycle, stepping past the table with frown #4 plastered across his face.

Harry deduced that he was in a good mood.

"Your timetable, Potter" he handed the parchment to Harry while looking down his nose at him.

"Thank you" Harry mumbled.

"That's, 'Thank you', Professor" Snape corrected, then he fixed Harry with a meaningful stare.

His stance altered, something that only Harry noticed. He was on the defensive now.

"The Headmaster would like for me to inform you that your request was fulfilled. However there will be a grace period of two days before you can access it"

Harry's temper flared. All his gold was just sitting there! Unprotected!

Everyone was giving him a quizzical stare.

Harry's manners decided to kick in first.

"Thank you professor, I'm glad the Headmaster finished it so quickly"

Snape drifted off without another word, but Harry could tell that he relaxed very quickly once Harry had spoken. Once does not anger a beast of the old line and get away unscathed.

Harry glanced a look at Dumbledore who toasted to him as they met eyes.

"What was that about?" it was Draco who asked.

This was the first time the boy had directed conversation towards Harry.

"Private stuff" Harry said simply, wolfing down a full fried egg.

"Well, it looks like we have potions first, then defense" Daphne cut into the stare off between the two boys.

"Defense is a class?... Is there an offense class?" Harry wondered aloud, earning him a chuckle from Crabbe and Goyle, a frown from Draco, a smile from Tracy and a sigh from Daphne.

"What?" Harry was generally curious. Why was everyone acting so strange?

"Your a complete dolt, you know that right?" Tracy laughed.

Harry just gave her a bright smile.

They all stood up once breakfast was done, and as Harry exited the great hall, he didn't notice how Daphne chewed Tracy out for getting him to smile. Tracy just shot her a sly look and said three words, to which Daphne's face went red, white, then back to her normal skin tone.

Harry didn't see it all happen, but he did hear what Tracy had said.

"You like him"

It was full of smug pride and understanding. If Tracy was raised any differently she would have crossed her arms with a haughty look plastered on her features.

* * *

'So the Snakes share potions class with the Lion's' Harry mused, watching around the room with sleepy eyes. All the food was settling in his body and he just wanted to go sleep under his pile of gold, but the constant whispering and clatter from the potions class was keeping him awake.

The frowns being thrown at him from the Gryffindors was annoying, but ignorable. In the dim light of the dungeon's classrooms, almost anything could be ignored.

Harry tried blinking the sleep out of his eyes as Daphne swirled the potion.

"Thank you"

Daphne turned an eyebrow up at him.

"For what?"

Harry smiled at her, knowing how it made her face go red, "for setting up and doing the entire potion basically. I'm not really focused right now" he murmured.

Daphne took a few seconds before she responded, the red in her cheeks slowly disappearing.

"Stomach ache?" she wondered.

Harry nodded.

"Maybe you shouldn't eat too much then? You were practically inhaling the food!" she hissed at the end, as Snape had turned to look at them.

Harry just smiled. His stomach didn't hurt because he had too much… it hurt because he didn't have enough.

There was always lunch to look forward too though.

Harry's thoughtful expression meant that the stares from three different people went unnoticed. Daphne was glancing up at him occasionally, trying to see if he was alright. Draco was looking right at him, his mind a hailstorm of thoughts. The other, she knew exactly what he was, and just exactly she wanted to do to him.

Harry was in his own world, thinking of the best way to eat food without scaring anyone around him.

* * *

The next two days were utter hell for Harry Potter.

The gold must have been deposited in the Mountain, because Harry could feel the itch. Daphne was doing the most she could to help him keep focused on class. Somehow she knew that Harry was being heavily distracted by something, and that this 'something' was also scratching at his nerves.

Harry really appreciated all the effort she put in to keep him on track and distracted, and in return he just kept giving her the smiles that made her face go red.

Tracy did nothing but tease Daphne, and for the life of him, Harry couldn't figure out why the fact that Daphne 'liked' him flustered the girl so much. Harry liked her as well, but that didn't turn her face red.

'She's a great friend' he reasoned, looking over at her briefly during lunch on the second day.

"Potter"

Harry turned over to look at Snape, the man had a blank express this time. No regular sneer.

"Professor?"

"The Headmaster requests your presence after lunch" he said simply, "The Headmaster will also like you to know that he… 'adores' gum drops" Snape looked like he had something sour in his mouth.

"Alright Professor" Harry replied, wondering why the man had shared such useless information.

But instead of being able to air his concerns, Snape had already drifted away.

"Why does the Headmaster want to see you?" Daphne had asked the question, but everyone around them was paying attention to what was happening. They all were wondering what was going on between Harry and Dumbledore.

Gossip was one of the currencies traded throughout the halls and classes of Hogwarts, and the Slytherins held a large majority in that currency. They even went as far as to create trouble just to cause gossip.

"Does this have to do with that request? From two days ago?"

Everyone turned to look at Goyle with wide eyes except Harry, who simply nodded at the boy.

He remembered that?

"What?" Goyle asked, his tone going gruff, "I pay attention sometimes" he huffed.

Draco raised an eyebrow at the boy before shifting his gaze back on Harry, "so Potter, what's happening?"

Another stare off ensued between him and Draco.

For some blasted reason, Harry wanted to trample all over the Malfoy heir. He wanted to burn that schmuck every time he spoke with Daphne and decided to look around at him, like some kind of challenge.

Harry had felt challenged every time Draco spoke with him.

The Malfoy heir addressed himself as his better, but Harry knew the price of blood, and how much the magical communities valued old blood.

Harry's blood stretched past eons of time, and he was the last of a once great race.

There was a little animosity towards wizards, and their extermination of the greater dragon races, but in the end those that survived respected their strength.

The only pain that the survivors marked, was the line of Valmor. That treacherous beast had sided with the wizards. He had given them all the details, tools, methods and understandings to kill off a large majority of Harry's ancient family. Then the monster was inducted into wizarding society as long as it gave away the other families. Harry was the last of his kind.

He owed the others, the ones who had been slain for greed and wealth, they had all died for gold or status.

Harry was the last one who could not only avenge his people, but to continue the line.

His subconscious began to sink once more, the mist that separated both sides slowly began to disperse a fraction.

"It's private" Harry smiled slightly at Draco.

The other boy just snorted.

Having finished his meal, Harry stood from the bench and made for the Headmasters office.

A hand darted out and grabbed his.

Green met blue.

"What's going on Harry?" Daphne whispered to him.

The boy weighed his options. Looking between everyone at the immediate section of the table. He couldn't tell her now. Not like this. Not even alone. Who could he trust with this kind of information?

He patted her on the head slightly, getting a rosey hue to appear on her face. He loved it when that color was on her.

A small grin broke out on his face.

"Not today Daphne… not today"

With a frown she released him and he walked off.

* * *

Harry stood outside Dumbledore's office with his arms crossed.

This.

Blasted.

GARGOYLE.

Would not move.

He had asked it politely. He had demanded it sternly. Harry had even tried to lift the damn thing. Then he realised how bad that was because apparently it was an animated statue, one that really didn't like to be lifted up. So Harry Potter had his first school fight with an irritating statue guarding an office that he needed to get to. Fighting with it was not fun, because Harry quickly discovered that it had a nasty right hook. The dragon boy patted the side of his face gingerly.

His cheek was sore from the stone strike.

Sighing audibly, Harry pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Listen here you bloody stone git"

It didn't move.

"Professor Snape told me that Dumbledore wanted to see me. He also told me that the old coot really likes 'gumdrops' but-"

Harry's tongue caught in his throat.

The statue was moving. It stepped aside, revealing the stairs which lead to the Headmaster's office.

Ever so slowly, the pieces of Snape's random conversation fit into the gaps in Harry's mind.

Understanding was achieved.

Potter felt his blood boil.

"Gumdrops?" Harry said, his eye twitching, "it's a magically password proofed door, and the password, is _**gumdrops**_?!"

Harry turned to his right immediately, stomped the floor and punched the wall, cracking both, before he let out a gigantic frustrated roar.

* * *

Dumbledore jumped in his seat.

He had been sitting in his office for more than half an hour, waiting for Harry to arrive after the lunch break, when a beastly roar exploded from behind the door which was the entrance to his room.

A few moments of silence combined with Dumbledore's beating heart, and Harry James Potter practically kicked the door down, swanning into the room, and graciously sitting before the headmaster.

Albus could see the murder leaking from the boy's eyes, but the blank expression was better than he had hoped for.

"A lot of trouble with door?"

"Immense amounts" Harry bit back quietly, "what did you need me for?"

"You'll be moving to the mountain very soon. You will need to bring all your belongings with you, and inform any who asks you that you are moving down to Hogsmeade for the rest of your time in Hogwarts." Dumbledore steepled his fingers, the twinkle in his eyes firm and obvious.

Harry nodded.

"No one is allowed to discover your existence within the mountain. I suggest that you get used to alternating between your forms as fast as possible. Perhaps even have a room made within the mountain, one for when you are human"

The boy was practically vibrating in his seat.

"You will attend classes normally, but you will have to be up earlier if you wish to attend breakfast. It's quite the walk from the mountain to the school. No flying during the day. What you do at night is your own choice, but do not disturb the school" Dumbledore said firmly.

"Of course" Harry replied, "Like I want a bunch of nosy kids to come and seek me out"

As Harry departed the office, to be later taken at the end of the day by Dumbledore to his new home, he had no idea how much those words would haunt him.

* * *

"Harry?"

Said boy turned to look at Daphne, who had stood from the common room sitting area and approached him. Harry had his trunk with him, and his school robes slung over one shoulder. A weird outfit of fur and armor covered him.

"Daphne?" Harry blinked, not having noticed the girl curled up by the fire after hours.

"What… where are you going?" she gestured to his outfit and trunk.

"I'm moving outside the castle" he smiled at her, "I'll still be around, just living somewhere else where I can stretch my wings… so to speak" his smile morphed into a grin, "why are you worried?"

"Who said I was worried?" she bit back, but her red face and clasped hands spoke different words.

"So you don't care? My, I thought we were friends?" Harry teased, taking a page out of Tracy's book.

"Of course we're friends! I do care!" Daphne blurted, her face heating up as Harry chuckled at her.

"I'll be around. Don't worry" with his free hand he ruffled her hair, noticing now that she had moved much closer to him than before, "We're still in the same house, and you're still the best friend I've ever had" he tilted his head sideways, "so be calm, I hate it when you're worked up"

Daphne almost turned scarlet, but Harry didn't see as he had turned around, walking out of Slytherin house and into the dungeons where Dumbledore was waiting for him.

Daphne's eyebrows shot up at the presence of the headmaster, but the door closed before she could even begin to understand what was happening.

Where was Dumbledore taking Harry?

* * *

Albus and Potter had walked quietly outside the school, and with the only one who knew about the trip being Snape meant there was total privacy.

Yet they walked in silence, the only noise being the sound of feet stepping on dirt and grass.

It was Albus who broke the silence at long last.

"Your new home" he gestured forward at the forbidden forest, "I hope it treats you well"

Harry was shaking. His entire body could feel the gold.

"C-can I change now!?"

Dumbledore took one last look around.

"Yes, you may"

He didn't even get to finish before Harry's body was growing. Wing's burst from shoulder blades, growing enormously to compensate for the thick limbs which began to develop. Scales rippled like waves across his skin, meeting at the front of face where the snout of the beast protruded.

Harry's torso now reached sixty meters in length, titanic legs holding up his entire form, monstrous arms stretched out wide with gigantic wings. His head was tossed back, maw wide open.

He was stretching. After spending so much time cooped up with the ants, he was finally free.

Dumbledore still couldn't get over the gigantic beast that Harry could change into. Hagrid had given him the book about ancient dragons, and it was an informative read. Someone had kept a forgotten history preserved, and an aspect so specific as a classic of magical beasts, one that even muggles knew about.

Dragon's dominated the folklore of many nations, but to truly be around the intelligent flying creatures was another thing.

As beautiful as they are deadly, if it weren't for the Phoenix, Albus would have declared dragons to be his favourite magical creature.

" _ **Now**_ " the massive head loomed down towards Albus.

" _ **Take me to my mountain"**_

If a dragon could grin, Albus imagined that it was doing so right now.

* * *

Please drop a review if you liked it! Thanks to all those who have reviewed up until this point!

I'm gonna get started on the next chapter now, and maybe start getting into some cannon events! Who knows?! I've got no story planned, and I'm essentially just winging it from here, but I hope you enjoy the ride none the less.

Best of wishes!

-Freedom.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the long wait everyone! I just wanted to make sure that this chapter allowed the story to break the 20k word mark, that way others could hopefully find it when searching for it. Hope you all can handle long periods of time, because if you do, more things like this chapter will be coming out. Anywho, it's been a long time, hope you all enjoy this release. Thanks to everyone who reviewed all the previous chapters, your insight has been helpful.

Best of days,

Freedom

* * *

On the delightful Saturday night at Hogwarts, Harry Potter was currently buried snugly under a multi ton mountain of gold.

He had burned a few holes into the walls, and clawed out some space to culture some flame, allowing for large bonfires to act like candles for him. They lit the gold perfectly, giving the room a shiny glow.

When Dumbledore had shown him the mountain, Harry had really appreciated the extra work that Dumbledore had put into the structure. It wasn't just a hollowed out pile of rock and dirt. It featured many of the same things that the original black mountain had. The large pillars holding the ceiling up were present, but far less decorated. There was a few boardwalk's above the mountain of gold for smaller beings to walk across. Only a few small rooms had been crafted in the side of the mountain, much less than the original, but what caught Harry's attention most was the altered entrance.

When he had found the original mountain those many years ago, Harry had dug his way into the side of it, spilling right into the middle of the bustling interior. There had been a wave of panic and death at his appearance, and then the mountain had been his.

Goblins were to greedy for their own good. Back in the day, they wouldn't have dared to accumulate that much gold, due to the endless wave of dragon's it would attract.

But the entrance hall, the one thing Harry had never used, had been crafted by the Hogwarts teachers. After Harry had been sorted into Slytherin, Snape had come down to add some transfigured architecture. The entrance hall had four stories, each separated by a thick layer of stone and 25 meters. On all fours with his wings retracted, Harry could walk through the hall. But he always wanted to turn his head left and right, to admire each of the ornate Snake statues for his current house. There were lion statues as well, which Dumbledore had told Harry that McGonagall had done in his parents' memory. The beautiful dragons were all Dumbledore's idea, with a model of himself staring over the huge strip of stone. The path lead directly into the gold room, but you had to climb an incline. A very large set of steps… for a human.

Harry thought it was a very nice addition to his new home.

Peace and rest were a hard thing to come by in a school system, as Harry was currently learning. But the chance to just sleep in and finally rid himself of that blasted gold itch was priceless.

On a full stomach as well!

Bah!

No one else knew such bliss.

Harry hummed quietly, but since he was currently a 100 meter curled up beast, it came out as a loud rumble. Even under all the gold.

Now, while enjoying his nap, full stomach, and peaceful atmosphere, Harry Potter had no idea that this very mood was about to be utterly destroyed.

* * *

"I don't like this George" Ron Weasley whispered, his eyes darting back and forth to the tree's on either side of them.

"It's fine you little wimp" Angelina Johnson said to him, "we've already investigated the third floor corridor, now it's obvious-"

"That we check up the mountain next!" Fred finished for her, wand in hand but pointing towards the mountain enthusiastically.

"Imagine what Dumbledore must have put there? What crazy magic might be there?"

"It could be dangerous" Ron countered, but George slung an arm around him as they continued walking closer and closer to the mountain.

"That it could young Weasley" George shot back, "but if you wish to use logic to determine our predicament, you will see that we are actually quite safe."

Not just Ron openly stared at George, but Katie Bell and Angelina both looked at him. Fred was hiding a smirk.

"Here is what we know. The third floor corridor had a really big cerberus in it. It was deadly. Dumbledore said, anyone who went into the corridor would suffer a 'death most gruesome'. Still with me?"

Ron nodded dumbly.

"Now. We _are_ in the forbidden forest, but Dumbledore's words about the mountain were, and I quote, 'you would suffer a fate most painful'. So logically," Fred was trying so hard to not snigger at his brother George, "since we went to the third floor corridor and didn't die a death most gruesome, who says that when we visit the mountain, we'll suffer a fate most painful?"

Ron blinked.

"Also it's huge bragging rights to know the information of what's in there" she gestured to the mountain, "probably some good gossip" Katie smiled, twirling the wand in her hand idly.

Not wanting to argue with a pretty girl, Ron just nodded, stepping back alongside Fred and Angelina.

"What the bloody hell?" George muttered, before breaking out into a light run towards the crack in the side of the mountain.

"George?!" Fred called, quickly moving after his brother.

"Oi!" Angelina shouted, running after the two brothers.

Not wanting to be left behind, Ron and Katie followed, albeit, Ron being a slight slower.

Fred had caught up with George, who was staring directly ahead of the two of them.

"What's wrong with you? You don't just-" Fred looked where George was staring, "Blood hell. What is this?"

The crack in the mountain, wasn't a crack. George had the best eye sight out of all them, he was able to spot many things that others ignored or couldn't see. He had been the first to notice the gigantic arch way.

"Holy Merlin" Angelina looked directly up at the massive stone opening, "thats huge"

"That's what she said" Fred smiled, receiving a punch in his arm from the brown girl. Worth it.

"It's got to be… 60 meters tall? 80?"

"A hundred" Ron said, stepping back and sizing the whole thing up, "why would anyone need such a big entrance?"

As Ron slowly walked through the entrance way, beginning to admire all the stone work and architecture, he failed to notice how the four others froze up behind him.

"You don't think-"

"-That a beast, -"

"-Perhaps a dragon-"

"-could exist-"

"-that was-"

"-This big?" Fred and George finished together. Charlie had said it was impossible for such a creature to exist. Only in myths and fairy tales did gigantic dragons the size of mountains exist. The biggest you got now a days was the Ironbelly's or the Hungarian Horntail.

Old stories and tales were just that: Myths and fantasy designed to entertain or teach. They held no ground in reality.

"There are lion statues in here!" Ron called, "and the Gryffindor coat of arms!" the youngest Weasley had already made quite a bit of progress into the hall. His exploration derailed all the thoughts of the elder Weasleys.

"There's also… snakes. There's a Slytherin coat of arms on the opposite wall of the Gryffindor one" Ron was feeling nervous now. Anything that a Gryffindor did was probably a good thing, but now that this place was for the Snakes also… well, Ron didn't feel so comfortable anymore.

"This is goblin design" Katie looked around, "it's incredibly scaled up and expanded, but this is what the entrance to a gold storage looks like. Why would Goblins have an unguarded empty stash of gold out here?"

Now, not that they were thieves or criminals, but the idea of gold lying around in a mountain, supposedly unprotected, was enough to turn the Weasley's head towards Katie. A gleam in their eyes.

Katie blinked at the stares she was receiving. Even Angelina was looking at her.

"How much gold?" George wondered carefully.

Katie was slightly flustered but she responded none the less, "well, based on the size of the entrance hall, I would assume enough to fill this mountain to the brim... and then some. Goblins usually make the foyer and entrance way proportionate to the… well, to the 'stash' that they keep"

"And this gold would be… that way?" Fred asked, pointing down the rest of the gigantic space.

"...yeah" Katie nodded.

"Well what are we waiting for?!" George exclaimed loudly, "Onward!"

The Weasley brothers lead the way down the path, right towards the gigantic steps.

* * *

Harry snorted underneath the gold.

His eyes were twitching, causing the pile to shuffle over and move.

He was having a dream. A very pleasant one. It involved him and Daphne. They were incredibly close to one another. Harry couldn't understand why he was having this dream. Daphne's face was red, and he was saying things which made her face burn with further intensity. Standing together like that, Harry could see that he had his arms around her.

She, being unable to speak for some reason, just nodded and leaned in towards him.

Harry ignored the burning feeling in his chest as she closed her eyes and came closer…. Right up until something else disturbed his pile of gold.

* * *

"Merlin's balls" Fred whispered. Angelina stood alongside of him, Katie to her right. George was holding onto Ron, who had stumbled once they all had reached the precipice of the stairs.

The top step.

"This is a lot of gold" Katie gasped, looking on the gigantic stash of gold. The huge space had large, yet undecorated pillars, with a sea of gold wrapped around them to form a big expensive pile.

The word 'pile' did not do the place justice. The gold seemed to go on for as far as they eye could see.

It spilled out all across the space, and Fred was slowly walking towards where the spill started.

"This has got to be…. I can't even calculate it" Fred murmured.

George, while still engrossed in the visual pleasure that was the gold, couldn't help but snigger, "that's not a surprise"

Fred's indignant, "hey!" was cut off by Angelina stepping forward, "I don't think we should be here anymore"

Everyone apart from Katie turned towards her, a look of confusion on their faces.

Seeing her confused audience Angelina just huffed, "we know what's here! We don't know why it's here, but at least we know what it is, and that's enough for me. I want to leave anyway" she looked around, "this place gives me the creeps…." she shuddered slightly before looking at the others, "...and I don't think we're alone here"

Now that they thought about it, each of the Weasley boys came to the conclusion that this place was in fact, incredibly creepy.

The great fires which ringed the roof of the massive space only managed to get good lighting on all of the gold. The dark corners of the room were shrouded in shadow so thick, it would take a sword to cut through it.

"This place is pretty spooky" said Forge. His brother stepped up alongside him.

Gred nodded.

"That it is, Forge" Gred turned to everyone, "but as Gryffindors, it's our job to be brave and bold!"

Glancing around the space, both the twins looked at each other before speaking again.

"That being said-"

"-We think it better-"

"-If we returned here-"

"-Another day" they both nodded at one another, as if confirming their plan, before looking at the two girls.

"Sounds good" Katie smiled, while Angelina kept looking left and right, as if she was trying to spot something slink out of the shadows.

Ron was standing by the edge of the gold, watching the gigantic pile.

He was still paying attention to the conversation of all the others, but he thought he had seen the pile shift. As if there was something….

No.

Charlie had told him not to worry about that.

Dragon's were the only species which slept underneath gold and utilised it as a way to rest. Based off the size of the pile, it would have to have been a pile of fifty, maybe even a hundred dragons for the shear amount of gold. And dragons never slept in a shared pile. It would have been a bloodbath.

No. It was safe.

Ron crouched down to the gold and called out to the others "I'm going to bring a souvenir guys!"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Angelina replied to the first year.

"We need some proof right?" Ron reasoned, and the girl just nodded at him after thinking about it for a few seconds.

So Ron reached down carefully and picked up a single piece of gold. An intricate gold coin, not a galleon, but it was obviously valuable.

Turning around, Ron pocketed the gold coin, stood up, and began to move back to his brothers and their friends.

The only noise that could be heard was Ron walking, everyone else was looking at the exit, ready to leave the mountain.

It was the strange sound that startled all of them. Angelina was leading the way out so she was closest to the stairs, but she was the first to turn around.

The others all spun as well, Ron slowly backing around from the pile of gold.

"What was that?"

Fred asked it, but none of them responded.

All their wands were out now.

The sound came again, and they all stepped back.

Like the sea, the gold was slowly moving down the pile like waves. Coins, goblets, cups, necklaces and expensive items all rolling over one another to reach the bottom.

"What the hell is causing that?" Katie snarled, looking at the pile with a light dusting of fear in her gaze, but focus as well.

"Uhhh… t-that?" Ron stuttered, pointing to the left of one of the closest pillars.

A gigantic green sphere had appeared there, surrounded by black scales…. Wait… that's no sphere.

That was an eye. A very… very… big eye.

Everyone took a step back as a large nose cut a swathe through the gold, disappearing under its surface along with the head it was attached to. This movement sent more ripples of gold everywhere.

"What the-"

In an explosion of force, a monstrous figure burst from beneath the gold, sending the precious material flying everywhere.

Wings burst forward, fanning the air just once, but the gust was large enough to topple George and Katie. Angelina, Fred and Ron all stumbled but kept their balance.

"That's a dragon" Katie whispered from the floor, looking up at the massive torso and head of the beast.

The two wings slowly retracted behind the dragon, and the beast itself fell forward onto its front legs.

A tremor rumbled through the earth as it landed, green glowing eyes fixed upon those within its cave.

Everyone was silent as the angry beast looked down at them, its eyes flicking from one to the other.

"What do we do?" George said quietly, but froze just as the eyes of the dragon darted to him.

Fred was about to answer, but the strangest of things happened at that very moment.

" _ **Put it back**_ "

The dragon answered the question.

Everyone blinked, except for the dragon, who merely shifted its arms and slumped to the floor, resting its head on the crossed limbs.

"...I'm not dreaming…. Right?" Angelina spoke softly.

" _ **No, you are not**_ " the beast was looking at her now, " _ **Would you like me to pinch you… just to be sure?**_ "

It's face stretched weirdly at those words… it almost looked like…

Holy shit.

The dragon was grinning. It had just cracked a joke.

" _ **Now please"**_ it rested back, wind snorting out of one nostril, " _ **put it back"**_

"Put w-what b-b-back?" Ron was terrified.

The head of the beast snapped towards him.

" _ **My g-g-g-gold, you stupid boy!"**_ the dragon was mocking Ron as it snarled at him, eyes turning to slits in anger as it glared at the young boy.

Ron was shivering in fear at the great beast, his voice caught in his throat, unable to even utter a noise. He was paralyzed in fright.

"Oi!"

Now the dragon blinked at the outrage, turning towards the identical humans that now stood next to one another, their arms crossed.

They looked angry.

" _ **What?"**_ the beast cocked an eyebrow.

Fred stepped forward.

"Now, it seems that we've come off on the wrong foot..."

"Or claw!" George chimed in.

"So to speak" finished Fred.

" _ **I see nothing but**_ _ **thieves**_ _ **, trying to steal from my fortune"**_ it hissed the word 'thieves', its glare somehow growing in intensity.

"We didn't come here to steal anything!" Angelina rose to the defense of the boys.

" _ **Then what did you come here for?**_ "

"A bloody _mountain_ appears in the forbidden forest, _two weeks_ after arriving back at Hogwarts, and you think that none of the students would be suspicious? Or interested?" Katie crossed her arms and huffed at the dragon, who glared slightly at her.

The beast stayed silent.

"Wouldn't you be interested? Wouldn't you want to look?" Katie shouted at the beast. It was such a jerk.

"... _ **Maybe…**_ " it huffed, slumping further on to its crossed limbs, turning its head to a different direction to avoid Katie's venomous stare.

Fred looked at the practically snarky dragon and blinked once.

The dragon was pouting.

Fred blinked again.

"How old are you?"

" _ **Excuse me?**_ " the beast snorted, turning to look at Fred with an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I just want to know how old you are" Fred gestured calmly, "you are a beast of myth and legend, something that even wizards don't consider real. You must be centuries old!"

The dragon's eyebrow twitched. It reared its head and brought if very close to Fred's face. Everyone else stumbled back as the four meter long teeth glided closer to them.

They were all instantly reminded of the naturally bred killer right before them. Something that could snap them up in an instant, or use them as miniature tooth picks.

" _ **11**_ " the dragon said testily.

"11 Centuries! Blimey, you're old!" Ron piped up, and the dragon frowned further.

" _ **No! Not 11 centuries!"**_

George gasped, "Then... 11 Millenia!? Blood hell, you're _ancient_!"

The dragon snapped.

" _ **NO! Not 11 Millenia! Not 11 Centuries! I'm ELEVEN YEARS OLD!"**_

It was the very same silence, the eirie feeling of nothingness, which crept back into the space between the dragon and the intruders.

Naturally, it would be a loud a boisterous Weasley which would break the silence.

"So you're a kid?" Ron asked.

" _ **Do not compare me to someone such as yourself, child"**_ the dragon rolled its eyes before turning its head away, " _ **now go away!**_ "

"Fine! Be a grumpy shit!" Ron shouted back, turning around and stomping towards the inhuman steps.

" _ **I'm not grumpy! You're just annoying!"**_ the dragon fumed, actual smoke coming out from its mouth.

"Yeah, whatever" Ron brushed the big beast off, fed up with it acting like… like… like Malfoy! This dragon was a git.

Turning its eyes sideways, the great beast noticed that one of the identical humans was still standing closer to it. The others were walking away with the smaller one.

" _ **What?**_ "

"Where's your family?" Fred cocked his head, arms by his side but wand still in hand.

" _ **Dead"**_

"For how long?"

" _ **...11 years…**_ " the beast grumbled, eyes closing.

"...are you lonely?"

Green eyes turned down to look at the small human.

Harry knew of the Weasley brothers in school, but he was not foolish enough to approach them. They had a knack for targeting the house of snakes with foolish, yet effective, pranks and punishments.

Harry didn't want to have to stick his head out into their crosshairs.

But this was a good chance to make some friends!

" _ **... one of the last of my race, forbidden from leaving this Mountain by day, confided to a small space, and only a small amount of gold…"**_ the dragon was mumbling to Fred now, thinking over everything.

" _ **Yes, yes I am"**_

"...maybe we could drop by more often than?" Fred shrugged his shoulders, "we need a place to hang out, and you're lonely! It makes perfect sense if we just hang here"

Now the dragon cocked its head, almost copying Fred. The likeness of such a movement startled the Weasley twin. It was almost human.

" _ **As long as no one gets a little light fingered…**_ " the dragon looked at Ron, who was peaking over the lip of the massive staircase.

" _ **...then I would be glad to have some company… but only weekends please… I am still not used to your kind**_ "

Fred smiled up at the beast. Just like some of the students at Hogwarts, he had a thick exterior. But underneath that, he was a softy at heart.

"Thanks! You won't regret this, I promise!" Fred turned and hurried off to the others, who looked eager to speak with him, but away from the dragon.

" _ **I had better not"**_ the beast grumbled. Fred was ready to hop down to the first of the steps, but before he did, the weasley twin did an about face, cupped his hands and shouted to the dragon which was submerging itself in gold.

"What's your name?!"

The beast hesitated.

" _ **Dorromar, last of the Draconis Rex… and you, human? What is your name?"**_

Fred gave a bow, which drew a snort of amusement from the beast.

"Fred Weasley, humble Hogwarts student, one of many of the Weasley family"

" _ **Good night to you, Fred Weasley"**_ and with that the monster turned to the gold pile, lumping it back together with its massive tail, trying to submerge itself again.

"And to you!" Fred chimed happily, finally turning and moving down to the step with the others. Katie and Angelina had already made their way down to the bottom stair.

It was at this time that the adrenaline finally emptied out, and Fred stumbled, only being caught by George and Ron, who had waited for their brother.

"Bloody hell" Fred whispered, "I just befriended a dragon"

Both George and Ron chuckled, but they all shared a look with one another.

They would have to speak about this later.

* * *

Draco Malfoy watched as all the Gryffindor's exited the mountain.

He had followed them up here on a hunch, and based off the topic of conversation which he could overhear, his hunch had paid off.

There _was_ a dragon in the mountain.

Draco could feel the gold itch.

That need to be surrounded by jewels and riches.

His father had explained it to him as a child. He would pass on the spirit of their family, the ones who had worked with the ancient beasts. Draco would never lie to himself. He knew what his family had done. They had brokered a deal with the dragon equivalent of the devil, the line of Valmor.

At the time, it seemed a skeptical thing. Greater dragons, the stuff of legends, were powerful beings. Yet the defectors, the Hero's as the wizards knew them, the line of Valmor wanted to more. Overnight they helped the wizards slay the great beasts. Hundreds of thousands of dragons were turned upon by their own family members, before the wizards cleaned it all up. The line of Valmor had offered a weapon so powerful, it could help the wizards achieve what they wanted: Dragonhide, dragon blood, dragon heart… and the most powerful types as well.

The beasts had delivered their entire race on a silver platter, in exchange for their survival.

It was the blood of their line which lived on, carried through the veins of every Malfoy over every generation. The soul of the beast lived in the youngest host, until he created yet another young host.

As long as the Malfoy's lived, so did the beast. In a sort of quasi immortality, the line of Valmor had cheated death.

Now the Malfoy family was one of the most prestigious wizarding lines in the world….

And they only had to commit genocide in order to achieve that.

But Draco really couldn't bring himself to care… this had happened eons ago, when the world was still young, and magic was still new. He had no power over decisions made in a time that was only known to a few. He didn't have the right to judge his forefathers.

Well maybe he did, but Draco didn't really care. For all intents and purposes he condoned the death of all those dragons.

All he had known was a life of wealth, power and influence. This was a life that promised to continue on for years on end. It was a great life.

By seven he had mastered his full fledged transformation. The ability to physically become one of the greatest species of creatures to ever exist on earth was a very powerful trump card.

Draco's ace in the hole.

The average person didn't have a very high chance of becoming a Wizard or Witch. Even less have a chance at becoming an Animagus, one of the many fantastic magical arts. But a magical being as an Animagus? _That_ was one of the rarest things any wizard or witch could have access to.

To turn into a creature which had a hide thick enough, and saturated with so much magic that even the Killing Curse had no hope to puncture it… it was an intoxicating ability.

As the Weasleys drifted off back to the castle, Draco stepped out from the tree line, strolling slowly towards the massive entrance way.

The Great Culling was what wizards called the end of the second age. When every first age race of dragons were cut apart for their bodily materials.

Of course, a few of the lines lingered here and there, attracted to large amounts of gold and safe havens. The Malfoy's had an active contract with dragon hunters, ready to exterminate on a moment's notice any dragons found. If a Malfoy turned beast and killed the dragon themself, then they would deposit the corpse with the hunters and collect a fee based on the size of the beast.

Draco had a feeling that this beast was young. Probably from a new line.

Dumbledore must have found whoever the beast was and didn't even know of their potential until early in the year.

Thus the mountain.

Draco was no fool.

He had felt the itch. Unlike the others in the school, Draco knew the purpose of the mountain and what it would contain.

As the blond haired aristocrat shifted into his white scaled dragon form, a strong smell of dragon wafted through the goblin hallway.

Moving onto his hind legs, Draco peeked over the tree's at 20 meters tall, his pale wings tucked safely behind his back.

The line of Valmor were once known as the cloud surfers, but now the word was synonymous with 'traitor' in ancient dragon speak. The language of the winged was still used by families which had indoctrinated the dragon blood. It was considered a very rare and polite gift, something used by only the upper class. A language coveted by both the purebloods and their doctrine.

Not even the Dark Lord had known about it.

Draco stopped at the entrance, admiring the work Dumbledore had put into the place.

The stone statues all seemed lifelike. They even represented some of the ancient Dragons that roamed the days of old.

...Maybe Dumbledore knew more than Draco had thought.

Or it was just an interesting coincidence.

Draco strode through the doorway, hoping to just step in and kill the whelp, then maybe get some sleep before he left.

What he didn't expect was the gigantic roar that boomed down the mountain, a _gigantic_ claw wrapping around his snout, while another grabbed him around the waist, pulling him out of the mountain entrance.

Instinct kicked in.

Draco's snarl was muted by the huge hand that held his snout closed, but the other hand did have a grip on his limbs, only his waist.

Claws struck out, desperately trying to cleave apart the black beast which was manhandling him.

" _ **Traitor!"**_

The huge arms and hands lifted Draco into the air, before flinging him down at the ground with all its might.

Something broke.

Draco couldn't feel his arm.

His gasp of pain was ignored as the _monster_ stomped on his head, the scaled foot pushing his skull further into the ground.

" _ **Pathetic worm. You think you can sneak up on**_ _ **ME!**_ "

Green eyes peaked down from a black scaled head.

Holy crap this dragon was big.

Internally Draco was panicking more and more.

" _ **You thought you could kill DORROMAR!? I should have ended the Valmor as soon as they left the dwelling!"**_

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Dorromar?

'THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE' Draco wanted to scream.

But…

But this beast was huge. Incredibly so.

Black scales, green eyes, a form so large it could rend mountains with a single swipe of its tail.

That sounded like the beast straight from the history books.

" _ **Any last words, worm?!"**_

Draco had to try.

" _Septis Mortalus'_

In a single second, the dragon magic catapulted Draco's soul forty feet away.

" _ **NO!"**_ claws came screaming towards Draco's head, ready to decapitate him, but the second half of the dragon magic finally snapped in.

His body whipped towards the place the soul had landed, merging with the form, once again becoming hole. A very nifty trick to escape dragon traps.

Ignoring the thundering of the earth as the other dragon followed him, Draco took to the sky, cradling his arm.

" _ **You will die in the clouds then Valmor!"**_

Gusts of wind began to pick up behind the quickly ascending Malfoy heir. Glancing a peak behind him, Draco almost felt his heart stop.

The beast had huge wings. Their steady beat slowly took the monstrosity off the ground, pulling it into the air and _towards him_.

" **RAKKASHA** '

Lightning lanced towards Draco, barely avoiding his skin, but still managing to burn a white hot line across his back.

Flame's were useless when two dragons fought. Their skin was strong enough to withstand pure lava.

But dragon magic was a whole different level of power.

Able to reform the earth and decimate civilizations, dragons of the first age knew almost everything.

" _Burn in hell false king!"_ Draco snarled, 'Vakous Menthil!'

Clouds of poisonous gas erupted from the nearby clouds, rushing to the space behind Draco.

" _ **Scum! FACE ME!"**_ Dorromar roared, halting his advance mid air. The clouds were dangerous, and he had not coated his lungs with anything prior to the fight. Magic of the winds and earth would be especially potent against him.

The white dragon had vanished into the clouds, his scent leaving with the trail of wind.

Dorromar's eye twitched.

* * *

The great beast let out a gigantic roar. The moon silhouetted his form against the clouds, casting a terrifying image over the trees and the castle itself. As it swooped back through the air, lashing out fire into the clouds at random, the residents of Hogwarts were slowly waking up. The professors were quick to awaken. Every common room, aside from the Slytherins who were housed in the dungeons of the castle was filled with curious students. Snape being one of the only members of Slytherin house who was roused by the roar of the dragon. Those that had access to windows could only gasp and point as the gigantic black dragon flew back to the mountain.

Dumbledore stood in his slippers and nightgown, a cup of tea in his hand as he looked out his office window. Having witnessed the entire fight as soon as Harry had exited the mountain the headmaster had some new worries to consider.

His reading into the history of these ancient dragons was stunted, and it seemed Harry was not as alone as he originally thought.

"Word of advice Albus"

Dumbledore turned his to look at the sorting hat.

"Talk to the boy about the white bastard. You'll come to understand why he reacted like that"

The hat was talking about Harry of course, and it seemed to know who the white dragon was, but as quickly as it had come to life, the hat faded back into a regular old hat.

Dumbledore needed to have a talk with Harry it seemed. He would also have to address the school early in the morning.

* * *

Harry snarled as he landed on all fours, crushing some of the trees as he hit the ground in fury. He was like a huge stampede of bulls, rushing through the forest, whipping his tail about in fury and crushing any tree that looked at him funny.

'That little bastard wanted to kill me. He knew exactly where I was… good thing he had no idea of who I was' Harry smugly thought to himself.

Dorromar?

That was the name of the spirit which had bonded with him.

They were one and the same. One could not exist without the other. It was impossible to suggest life for Harry Potter, if the spirit of Dorromar was extinguished.

He was the oldest flame in history. One of the most powerful dragons to soar the skies, and the final Draconis Rex, the Dragon King. The hunters had saved him for last.

'...and that worm wanted to kill us!' Harry fumed internally, not noticing the attention he was attracted from the tree line.

Raising a claw into the air, Potter aimed to dash the landscape, but as his massive talons flew towards the earth, a lone figure halted his childish rage.

A centaur stood on the ground, alone.

" _ **What do you want, horseman?**_ "

Ignoring the rude greeting, the Centaur just bowed slowly.

" _We request that our home be left undamaged, master of the mountain"_

Harry looked around, finally noticing the other Centaur's which lined the trees, all of them apprehensive and scared.

Looking at the destruction trailed behind him Harry almost flinched.

A few huts and encampments must have been destroyed by his swaying tail when he landed in the forest. Wooden construction and trees were flung everywhere. Dirt messed the landscape, and many Centaurs were already searching through the ruin. Harry was so massive that sometimes he could forget about how small the rest of the world was compared to him.

" _ **...I am sorry. I did not notice**_ "

The Centaur took it in stride.

" _You were blinded by rage great master, it is understandable. No one was killed"_

There was a pain in the Centaurs voice.

Harry picked up on it immediately.

" _ **No one may have perished, but did my foolish anger injure anyone?"**_

The Centaur twitched and his back legs stamped. He was agitated.

" _ **So, I did… who?"**_

Finally ending his bow, the Centaur looked up at the gleaming green eyes.

"My youngest…. Her legs were crushed"

It was quiet, but Harry could hear the hiss in the Centaur's voice. They couldn't be saintly all the time, and it did seem that they weren't incapable of anger.

Harry finally understood the position he was in.

Centaur's remembered. They learned, and they kept that knowledge to pass down from generation to generation. On and on, History stayed strong, it was never twisted into myth. Fact was kept firmly from fiction.

Their history was almost as sacred as their honor, and a race as old as the Centaurs... well they knew of him. Of Dorromar.

They feared the great black dragon, as any tiny, tasty and land walking species naturally should.

Despite his willingness to gut the traitor, the villainous turn coat that was the Valmor spawn, Harry did not wish to rule the surrounding lands with fear. He prefered a more peaceful understanding, so he made a choice.

Harry turned his head to the destruction, locating the young foal that was being lifted by two Centaurs. One of her legs was bend in a strange direction... the other was missing.

" _ **Palamatica**_ " Harry intoned deeply, turning away even as the Centaurs began to gasp and point.

" _What…?"_ the Centaur that had spoken to Harry was so confused, looking between the dragon and the destroyed camp.

"FATHER!" a young voice called. Her legs had been healed almost instantly. Something so small required so little magic.

" _ **Go. Be with your daughter Centaur. I shall return to my mountain safely"**_ Harry turned and began to walk through the tree's, parting them or just straight up crushing them, making a new path back to his home.

He just managed to catch the parting words of the Centaur.

" _Thank you... great one"_

Harry felt a headache coming on, but he didn't want to do anything. Today's events had been so troublesome. He just wanted to sleep.

Was that too much to ask for?!

Reaching the mountain, Harry felt like screaming when he saw the tiny figure of Albus -more middle names than necessary- Dumbledore standing in the massive archway.

* * *

Next chapter will be focusing on more history and backstory. Harry's social life is probably going to get more focus, and even his holiday plans will be coming up. I've been a little callous with character development for a while, so hopefully some motives, understandings and details will come out next chapter. Sorry if this chapter was boring, but I needed to lay a bit of groundwork for the next chapter. Any suggestions are STILL WELCOME, that's because the story is still a little malleable still, but in the next two or so chapters, you guys won't be able to give any more input. Simply won't have the capability.

That being said, I would love it if you all could help come up with some offensive and defensive dragon magic. Just the name of the spell and the ability please, anything from simple to deadly, I just wanna include some of your ideas. Drop it in a review and I'll look it over as soon as possible.

As always, please review n stuff, it helps feed my empty heart.

Best of wishes to all of you, and have a great day.

-Freedom.


	5. Chapter 5

First and foremost: Jesus. 400 followers. Thats crazy.

Secondly: Sorry for the shitty story. Some people have pointed out accurately that I haven't really given a crap about this one, even though you all like it. I'm trying to improve it chapter by chapter, but everything still feels rushed. Sorry to say though Jess (reviewer who has called me out on my shit), but English is my first language, and while I appreciate the criticism I can't really respect anyone who goes around looking for a fight. If you wish to flame, your not going to find any wood for your fire here.

Anywho.

Glad to see you guys like this story! Literally flying by the seat of my pants here. Updates are random and sporadic because I usually only start working on a chapter by like 4am and end working on it by like... 11. My head is really fucked.

But the reviews help! They really do!

More magical suggestions as well! I wanna do lots of cool things between dragon fights.

Thanks to **ApprenticeOfDaedalus** for a spell suggestion.

But for now, on with the show!

-Best Regards,

Freedom

* * *

" _ **Worms!**_ "

Flames erupted into the air, scorching the clouds and mountain tops.

The few wizards which didn't react fast enough were incinerated, their screams melting away with their bodies into the howling winds.

It was pure chaos in the air.

Death was only a heartbeat away.

It didn't matter if you were quick. Dragons were quicker. It didn't matter if you were intelligent, Dragon's were smarter. It didn't matter if you were strong… dragons were bigger. The only good thing anyone had going for them was luck.

Luck was not on their side today.

Beating his massive wings, the dragon dived out from the clouds, snatching another wizard in its jaws, and crushing the tiny human with a loud snap. Spells began to fire out from the other hunters, burning across his hide, but ultimately doing nothing to him.

" _ **Pathetic scum! I am Pheromar! I am Prince of the skies!"**_

More fire slashed into the air, incinerating the wizards on their brooms.

"Pull back everyone!"

Wizards flew down from the mountains at the command, each of them abandoning their failed hunt.

"It's the Hunters! We're saved!"

People had begun to notice the colours of the newcomers. Fresh deep blue robes with red hoods announced who they were.

Dragon Hunters.

"Please everyone" the lead hunter who had his hood down was calling to the other wizards and witches. They had been hunting this dragon, trying to push him away from the mountain above their town.

The Hunter's had answered their call for help.

"He'll make a fine pelt" one of the others whispered, looking at the beast which had landed atop a mountain peak, observing the new arrivals with beady red eyes.

"A fine specimen" the Apothecary remarked, "beware of the enlarged talons and teeth. I don't think I have anything in my bag that could fix anything done by those" he chuckled at the end, much to the annoyance of the others.

" _ **Who are you?"**_

The hunters floated in the air on their brooms, robes flapping in the breeze.

They all waited with baited breath for their leader to speak. He always did this. He was the one who planned the fights, and thus was the one who would address the more verbal dragons. Only a few members in the group deluded themselves into thinking what they were doing was right. That was for other groups. Almost all of them understood the money involved in this business, and treated it as such. Even so, their leader liked to have a little professional courtesy towards the monsters he would slay.

" _We have come for you, beast. There is no where left to run"_

The dragon growled.

" _ **How dare your filthy tongue desecrate our language!"**_

Most of the group only spoke a little of the language of the beasts, but their leader was fluent. He had never practiced the language once in his life. It was a gift from his 'resident'.

" _How dare_ _you_ _, son of Dorromar! To bring death and destruction to these fair people!"_

The monster was taken aback.

" _ **You know me… but I do not-"**_

Its eyes immediately narrowed.

" _ **I thought it not true… the sons of the clouds were loyal to the throne! I fought with them against Merlin! You are a lie!"**_

The wizard felt pity for the beast. Betrayal such as this was immense. Almost no one in the League of Hunters understood the amount of pain and suffering that the line of Valmor had to go through in order to survive. They had lead the assault on Merlin's castle, when the man had captured the Queen's hatchling. Those of the Valmor had paid dearly for the assault. They came to realise that the humans would win eventually. There just wasn't enough dragons. So in order to survive, they turned their backs on the rest of their race.

" _I am real. I can promise you that… and those of the Valmor made the right choice. You despotic tyrants need to be put down"_ the wizard summoned a strange staff, "for good" he said in the tongue of humans.

The broom was discarded, and the leader of the group began to shift, his body breaking into the form of a white scaled dragon.

They hovered in the air, before the rest of the group cast their magic, creating a bubble around the two dragons.

A fight to the death between two fearsome monsters.

The staff had changed as well, forming a gauntlet around one of the claws of the white dragon.

Ignorant of the claw, the black beast charged, righteous anger flowing through every pore of its body. Raw magical power crackled across its scales.

The very heavens seemed to shudder with the power of the Prince.

But the Prince would pay for his blind rage. He would pay dearly. As claws, teeth and limbs clashed with one another, the Prince was unable to notice the glowing white gem on the claw.

" _Caeleste Sagitta"_

The claw which held the gauntlet was grappled with the side of the Prince. In an explosion of light and power, the creation of Merlin activated. For all intents and purposes, the golden arrow which erupted from the palm of the gauntlet fired straight through the Prince. Yet it left no exit or entry wound. A ghostly arrow.

But the effect was instantaneous.

The body of the Prince went limp. Any and all fight drained from its very form.

Its gigantic corpse collided with the side of the mountain, rolling and tumbling its way down the hillside, eventually coming to a stop at a small outcrop. The wings were bleeding and broken, while the once powerful arms lay quietly, the whole form sprawled for the gods to laugh upon.

The bubble spell was broken as soon as the arrow had been fired.

"To the corpse" the now human leader commanded, his broom being summoned back to him by wand.

As a team they flew down to begin inspecting the body.

This would be their 52nd kill as a group, and they had only lost 87 people on the team so far. Ever since their leader had merged with the dragons, the death count on their side of the hunting had dropped significantly.

As a group, they all dismounted from their brooms, standing around the corpse of the dragon. The leader and the apothecary stood near the head, examining the teeth in order to determine how much they would go for.

The rest of the team, the warders, all began to examine the hide with specific tools, looking for good cuts and undamaged areas.

"This bastard is battleworn!" one of the larger fellows scoffed, poking some scarred skin.

"He's ancient" the leader looked at the closed eyes of the monster, "those wounds probably date back to Merlin himself"

The big fellow just scoffed, tousled his long red hair and said, "well bugger me. I'm poking ancient history!"

"Shut up Gobius" the apothecary growled.

"Up yours Bartholomew!"

"Quiet, both of you" the head of the group moved to the slumped head, touching the space above the eye.

"What's wrong Arcturus?" one of the girls in the group wondered, stepping over the dragon's chest.

"Hmmm… interesting"

"What?" came from the oaf.

"Stop pretending beast. Speak now or forever be silenced"

A low grumble startled everyone, eventually towering into a large booming noise. The girl fell off the chest of the dragon, because it was laughing so hard.

" _ **Well spotted human"**_ the prince grumbled, before breaking out into a coughing fit.

All the other humans panicked, rushing away from the dragon before it could kill them.

The leader stayed put, and he crouched next to the face of the dragon, the red eye twitching down to look at him.

" _Just die, beast"_

He raised the now glowing staff, pointing it at the head of the monstrosity.

" _ **Draco… Homicidam… Donari…**_ " the monster wheezed, its voice fading by the second.

"What?" the staff was lowered slightly, the glow remaining, but with less intensity.

" _ **You are not hunters… hunters exist to remove the pests and dangers of the world… you are nothing but murderers and thieves… and I name you that, in your language and ours..."**_

The Donari?

Albus watched the memory with great thought. He had heard the name before, only once. It was mentioned between two individuals at the ministry in a very quiet backdrop, something that Dumbledore has stumbled across.

From his position on the mountain side with Harry, Albus moved back alongside the very somber and quiet young boy.

They proceeded to finish observing the rest of the memory.

" _ **I curse you…"**_ the Prince hissed, eyes slowly closing, "... _ **Madahr**_ "

And the beast finally stopped, its eyes shut for ever, the light from its soul extinguishing.

"NO!" the leader roared, gripping the staff and trying to cast a spell, but the damage had been done.

A gentle wind of magic blew over the corpse of the dragon, who had cast a spell of purification a second before its death.

...Which should not have been possible.

It had drawn so much magic in such a fleeting time of its life in order to render its body useless for the 'scavenging maggots'.

The spell ate away all the magic within the corpse of the dragon, removing all magical properties from the scales of the dragon, reducing every part of the body to nothing of value.

It was just a large hunk of meat now.

The leader was furious. His wand thrust forward, burning a jet of flame across the now unprotected skin.

"Merlin's beard! Arcturus! What are you doing?!" the big red head asked, jumping back as the fire began to further eat through the body of the dragon.

"Oh shut up W-"

And the memory ended.

Dumbledore was very silent. Snape was as well.

Both of them shared a look then glanced at the quiet black haired boy.

"These are not your memories"

Harry nodded.

"I was given them. The merge will be complete in only a few weeks, and we've been seeing more and more. I know of a history and past that any other wouldn't even begin to know about."

Snape sighed, taking a seat in one of the firm charis in the office.

"I've heard the name before. The Donari. If history proves true, then they took up the title that the dragons called them. Something I believe that was done out of spite, but I don't know anything for sure about that" Snape brought a hand to his face and stroked his chin in thought.

Harry had brought them up to speed on the relationship between the dragons of the first age and the Donari.

Dumbledore had felt very bitter about this.

He took it as a horrible example of human nature, that greed could condemn an entire race to death.

Genocide.

Humans have a very long extensive history with it, and somewhere deep within the mind of the headmaster, he had always hoped that wizards would be able to step above from muggles, and learn to use their gifts for good.

This was yet another example of how people would always be people, regardless of how they titled themselves.

A wand or a gun, it didn't matter. Arguing over what caused the death was just semantics.

It is the hand, that holds the weapon. Not the weapon itself.

Albus sighed, just like Snape had, pinching the bridge of his nose in slight frustration.

"I wasn't able to figure out who the dragon was. But being a member of the clan of Valmor, he will inform the Donari of my existence. It's only a matter of time before the hunters come for me" Harry said somberly, his arms crossed.

'This is how my race ends'

He had showed Dumbledore more than just that memory. Others were there, ones that showed the violence between dragon and human. He hadn't gone all the way back however. Things like the battle of Camelot… there were some things humans didn't need to know. Merlin had deployed a vast arsenal of magic weapons in order to remove the 'dragon infestation'. The wizard's ire towards the beasts had incurred a response from the intelligent race.

The flames of battle died from Harry's mind as Dumbledore dragged him back to the present with a wave of his hand.

"Are you alright Potter?" Snape droned out, "anyone home?"

"Sorry Professor" Harry frowned, "just some idle thoughts"

"It's alright my dear boy" Dumbledore smiled, "I take it upon myself to assure your protection. After all, it was my side of the agreement to bring your gold to a suitable location! It would hardly be such a place if murderers and vagrants can break into it!" Dumbledore frowned at the end, "I shall contact Filius. The both of us will ward the space to only allow teachers and yourself Harry"

Harry was about to nod, before a stray, yet none the less important thought came to his mind.

"Um, actually Professor Dumbledore..."

Both Snape and Albus looked to Harry, concern in their eyes. Even if it was thinly veiled by Snape.

"...there was a brief altercation before the fight…. I was visited by some students"

"Students?!" Snape exploded, but before he could further speak upon the matter, a calming gesture was made by Dumbledore. The Headmaster nodded at him to continue.

"I… I really didn't mind it. They didn't steal anything… and we sort of just talked. They didn't know I was the dragon, I never changed back. It was…" Harry's face burned slightly, trying to get the uncomfortable admission out.

"It was nice"

He had never had to answer to an authority, or had anyone around him for most of his life. English, Latin, German, French and Spanish were wizarding languages, something that had been naturally imparted to him as well as the rest of his ancient treasure trove of knowledge.

But friendship?

Companionship?

What if his current friends didn't know about the dragon? What if they were terrified of that?

The ultimate goal was to not feel lonely anymore. But a close second was the ability to be at ease.

It hurt to be human. Harry liked his scales, his big teeth, the slight chip on his lower torso and his wings.

If his friends couldn't handle the beast… well there were already those that could. Harry could be their friend.

"The Weasley boys are a very friendly bunch. A rare type of person is that accepting. You were lucky it was them that discovered you first Harry" Dumbledore smiled at the boy, "I had been wondering if you would mention them"

Harry blinked.

"You knew?"

The old man nodded.

"How?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "having a particularly large dragon on hand could cause quite the panic if it were discovered by any who had not been informed of said dragon. I had a ward keyed in on one of the stones of your vault"

"So you were ready to apparate at any time?" Harry laughed, "you old coot"

"Potter"

"It's alright Severus" Dumbledore was smiling broadly, "I'll speak to the Weasleys and their compatriots at a later time. But they will be keyed into the future warding. They will not know of your true identity Harry. Take some time to break it to them. Ease them into it if you can"

"Easier said than done old man"

"Potter!" Snape growled, "show the headmaster some respect"

Dumbledore and Harry's eyes met.

Looking outside his office Dumbledore smirked now, turning his head back to Potter.

"I know subtlety is not one of your strong points… especially considering your size" his eyes glanced to the new path in the Forbidden Forest, "but do give it a try"

Absolute silence deafened the room.

But only for a moment.

"Are you calling me fat, you weathered boot?"

"POTTER!"

* * *

" **FUCK!** "

Draco almost screamed as his father rolled a wave of magic across his scales, only able to bite out a word of agony.

The lance of lightning had done much more damage than he thought possible. It had only felt like a burn, but the residual electricity had slowly been eating down his back.

A truly ancient piece of magic.

Lucius walked towards the snout of his son, a contemplative expression across his face.

"I don't know what's more impressive… your stupidity, or what you could have uncovered" Lucius murmured, his eyes focused on the small scratches and grazes. The larger dragon had made a good attempt at taking a chunk out of Draco… literally.

" **I had no idea that there-"**

Lucius' eyes became slits, giving away his reptilian heritage, " **EXACTLY!"** he snarled, jabbing his cane at his son.

Taking a moment, Lucius took a breath and focused himself. Anger was unbecoming of someone like him.

"You didn't think. That is your problem. You should have informed me. I would have inspected this 'mountain' myself, and dealt with this beast"

Lucius knew his son had just wanted to prove himself. There were only four years left till he would be giving his rite of passage into the Donari, and would become a brother hunter like the himself. Lucius would be a proud father that day. But now, he had a dragon to think about.

A whelp that had slipped through the gaps of the net.

It wasn't completely uncommon for some of the old lines to bond with a human and let an heir make it past the extinction.

Most of them did not make it into adulthood. This was because the order didn't want to have to deal with a mature dragon. Much harder to kill, even if the hide was under developed. The last big hunt had been for a ten year old girl Spanish girl. She hadn't even been aware of the beast residing within her until the hunting group had forced it out. That had been five years ago.

More healing magic coursed down the white dragon's spine.

Draco wanted to snarl.

" **Fuck him"**

"Language young man" Lucius snapped, prodding his son with the cane, "anyway, you should be returning to the castle soon. I'll contact some members of the council and deal with this nameless beast"

In stride, the Malfoy Patriarch turned and began to leave the small domed building where Draco resided.

" **Dorromar"**

Lucius felt his stomach drop.

"Excuse me?"

Draco hadn't noticed his father's wide eyed and terrified gaze.

" **I forgot to tell you his name. He called himself Dorromar. But now that I've thought about it though, it can't be him… The King was said to have red eyes, just like his son, this one had-"**

Draco stopped talking when his father appeared right before him.

"Are you certain of this?"

Draco inclined his large head slowly, " **he called me worm… and traitor. Like he knew who I was"**

Lucius tightened his grip around the cane, anger bubbling up within him.

"And you didn't think that was an important fact you could have shared with me? When you crash landed onto the front lawn with a broken arm and bleeding from multiple places?!"

Draco winced slightly.

" **I didn't think it was impor-** "

In the observatory space, Draco's father transformed, his much whiter scales flying across the much greater surface area of his body.

Lucius ground his paw onto the snout of his son.

" **Think. Draco, I want you to think long and hard right now, because any detail you miss could be crucial to our survival."**

Lucius had a much larger form than his son, easily dwarfing the youngling.

Even as he exerted some of his frustration, the much larger form was slowly shifting back into the man it was contained in.

"Now. Tell me what happened, and be very _very_ clear"

* * *

"Your back!" Daphne practically jumped on Harry, "you alright?" she whispered conspiratorially as she hugged him.

Harry chuckled, embraced her back, before putting her back down on the floor.

"Never better" he grinned, and Daphne smiled back at him. The two left side by side, idly chatting at they walked to the great hall.

Tracy rolled her eyes from behind the two of them.

Almost two hours earlier Daphne had woken her up and dragged her to the big doors of the castle, ready for Harry to return. No amount of groaning, complaining or promises could stop the blonde.

So when the long haired hunk-

Tracy coughed, trying to hide her blush. To be fair, it was practically criminal to look like that when you were this young.

Off topic.

So when **Harry** had stepped through the doors, she could practically feel the excitement radiating off Daphne.

Now the two of them were chatting more and more. They looked like some of the seventh year couples!

HE HAD ONLY BEEN GONE FOR A WEEKEND!

Tracy huffed, before butting in on the conversation, taking Harry's other side.

Life seemed to be back to normal.

* * *

Ron was terrified.

It had been fear when McGonagall had only collected George and Fred. When he had been asked to come with her as well, it was a more intense fear.

But he was terrified when Angelina and Katie were also picked up by the transfiguration professor.

With a quiver in his lip, the five of them were lead out of the great hall right after breakfast was finished…

Right to Dumbledore's office.

Ron wanted to curse the two idiots he called brothers. They had gotten him into this!

He was just an innocent first year! He'd done nothing wrong at all!

I mean, sure the Slytherin's were a bunch of jerks, and he said mean things to almost all of them… but they deserved that!

They were slimy snakes.

And a right bunch of gits.

But anyway, Ron was now feeling a little heat around the neck, and a ton of uncomfortable if not downright scary thoughts were going through his head.

What would happen?

Expulsion?

Would they tell his mom?

Of course they would!

"Stop panicking Mr. Weasley, you're not in trouble at all"

Ron inhaled sharply as Albus Dumbledore walked into his own office and took a calm seat behind his desk, watching the five children behind steepled fingers.

Katie was fidgeting slightly. She feared for the worst.

Angelina had a blank expression, but every now and then she would look towards Fred and George, a little bit of anger in her gaze.

Dumbledore smiled briefly.

"You have all been brought here for exactly what you are thinking about"

The stoney faces of Fred and George practically echoed out their guilt, but Dumbledore decided to let them stew for a few more moments of silence.

"...but not for any sort of punishment! Oh no, in fact, for breaking school rules in this particular manner, I wish to congratulate you all!"

Everyone blinked.

Katie's mouth actually dropped open.

"Five points from Gryffindor each, for all of you" Dumbledore nodded, "however, due to circumstances that have been set in place by the Weasley brothers, I find that your weekly correspondence with the 'resident' of our new mountain, to be a boon for Hogwarts"

Silence still reigned supreme for the younger side of the room.

"I will not force you to return to his lair, but our resident has expressed in other words, that he finds your company most amicable. He wishes for contact, and for someone so innocent and so alone for his age, you have all fallen into the perfect place to, as the muggles would say, 'kill two birds with one stone'."

"So let me get this straight…" Angelina was of course the one who broke the younger sides silence, "you want us to play dragon sitter. With something that could kill us if it sneezed in the wrong direction?"

"No" Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm asking if you could give a very lonely child, some much needed company. He needs all the help he can get in order to adapt to our society"

Fred narrowed his eyes.

"You speak like he's human"

Dumbledore paused, before glancing at the boy from behind his half moon spectacles.

"In a sense, he is"

Everyone was quiet again, waiting for one side to break the silence of the other.

"So we're not getting expelled?"

Dumbledore chuckled while Fred and George groaned at their little brother.

* * *

Thanks to everyone for reading this far! More on the way if you all want it! Thanks to all the new reviewers who give motivation for this story! And of course to all the old reviewers! Thanks for being here and giving your support. Maybe I'll end up making something that we all like?

That would be great.

But for now, I'm going to go sleep.

Peace.


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